Foresight-Ashton and the Clave
by ManxMG
Summary: The adventures of a young warrior, brought up in seclusion, has a hunger to find out more about the world he was raised to protect. Although what he learns, experiences and finds is more than he has ever trained for.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey all,**

**I'm a first time writer but a long time fan of anime and manga galore. I originally started writing this OC character that was going to be added to a friends story and while doing the background for him, I found that a started to feel more passionate about writing than I thought I would. What you're about to read is the start of my adventures with Ashton which I hope you find as addicting to read as I did to write. Thanks, and please enjoy. :) **

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Born into a family which has been at the front lines of the wars against the creatures of Grimm for longer than man has wielded dust. The family of the Clave have trained their children for these never ending wars. The family consists of a main household who's children receive the best training, teachers and are groomed from birth to be battle ready. And the branch family members whom have a duty to protect the main family from harm as they are raised do other jobs which generates money to fund the main family. However, the branch families have a freedom which those in the main house could never have. The freedom to choose. Over the years the main family have had prophecies which tell of a battle to end all battles. The war of the world's shadow. It is believed that the creatures of Grimm will raise up to once again over throw man and the world will be forever caught in twilight. For this reason, the main household has closed itself off from the outside world for generations as to cut out all distractions and to acquire the sharpest skills and the strongest blood in all the kingdoms.

Aston was born into the main household and was taught in the families ancient methods. The weapon was a single edged short sword, which was held in no sheath, as to sheath ones sword is to say the fight is done. If you are to carry a weapon into battle, it should be at the ready and so should the warrior holding it. As the child's arms became stronger and the skills he had grew, so did the blade. As soon as the young warrior became accustomed to the weight of the blade and it didn't hinder his movements, the weight and size of the blade would increase. Mental focus would also be sharpened through meditation, which consisted of hours of sitting with both arms outstretched and their blade resting across them. This training continues until they reach the age of fifteen. And to ensure that the training has been successful, they then undergo the trial of blades and shades. This consists of facing one hundred Grimm at midnight, every night and lasts from the end of a full moon to the start of the next. This must be completed before the Sun rises and without outside interference. If you fail you resume your training for a further two years before you can retake the trial.

As a sign of someone's success after they've completed the trial, they then forge their own blades to one of the ancient designs. To carry one of these blades in the name of the family meant that you were bringing them honour. In his siblings Ashton was the youngest of five brothers and was second to forge his sword but the only brother who managed to complete his trial after his first attempt. His blade was infused with a special type of dust, which heated the edge of the blade as it moves through the air or clashes with an intended target due to the friction on the steel. It can get hot enough to even leave a burning red heat haze in the air which has the potential of burning unknowing foes. His fighting style flows smoothly, spinning the blade and passing it effortlessly from hand to hand which set the air around him ablaze, as if he were a fire dancer and each battle was a performance. Once the trial is complete and the sword is forged, a final examination of the swordsman and his abilities takes place in order to give the sword its name.

The crescent moon coliseum. Where the wise warriors observe from for the naming ceremony. As Ashton walked out towards the center of the battle arena, eighteen inches of sword handle in his right hand with the four foot charcoal black blade resting across both shoulders. He reached the middle of the arena and stuck the wide ended blade tip in the hard stone ground side on to the wise warriors to display its design. The blade of the sword starts at the same width as the hilt narrowing one third of the way before gradually widening to its broad tip which was buried in the floor. The head wise elder stood up.

"Ahh, the curved executioner's blade. The heavy head which is hard to get moving to start, becomes a fierce and intimidating force. Able to split an Ursa from the head to past the hip in a single cleave." The elder looks again at the weapon but this time squints his eyes as if he was questioning something he was seeing. "However," he continued "I do wonder as to purpose of the addition you've made."

He raised his hand and pointed towards the six inch blade that was mounted on the other end of the handle. As black as the main blade, but double edged and hooking back on itself on both side as well.

"For parrying and countering I'm guessing?"

"That and to house an extra modification I made, my elder." Ashton replied.

The elder smiled and sat back into his chair. "Well let's see just how this 'modification' effects the battle. Let the naming ceremony commence!"

The ceremony consists of five tiers of increasing difficulty. Starting with five beowolves as a warm up. A cage is raised from the floor a dozen or so meters behind Ashton as he returned to holding his nameless blade across his shoulders and faced the cage. The door slides up with the screech of metal on metal. A horn blows and out sprint the five beowolves in a frenzy of snarls and growls. As the fastest of the pack reached to cast the first blow, the aforementioned 'hard to start moving' blade moved from along the top of Ashton's back to effortlessly being pivoted around his head to his right shoulder, and from there straight though the arm of the striking beowolf. Splitting its arm from fingers to elbow and as the blade left the beast's arm, Ashton placed his left hand low on the long handle to spin it over his head. And with a step forward the first was dispatched. Ashton's hands kept their pace as his feet found their pace along the floor, as if they were following the step by step instructions of a dance. The second and third met the same end as the first. Stupid beasts that they were, as if to learn nothing from the leader of their pack. The final two weren't much better, but at least had the courtesy to attack him at the same time so that he could see off both their heads with a single slash across their necks. The blade is placed back across his shoulders, with a faint orange glow which soon dissipates.

"A fine display..." Preached the elder warrior "the weapons size and shape lend themselves nicely to you and do not hinder your movements. And now a smaller pack with bigger game."

The second cage raises and another metal screech let's lose four large Ursa. More analytical then their beowolf counterparts, they close the space to Ashton as a unit. They surrounded him as Ashton widened his stance placing his left hand on the floor and holding his sword on an angle over his right shoulder glancing at his opponents with an odd white flash to his normally hazel brown eyes. The first Ursa swung its large claw, only to swipe at the space that Ashton used to occupy. The only thing that proved that he wasn't just a figment of their imagination was when he landed with a loud crash as he destroyed the stone floor beneath one of the creatures. His eyes painted blue this time, before returning to their more normal, regular colour. Drawing his blade from under the Ursa, Ashton turned his back on it to look at the other three. They looked at him and the fourth member of their pack, who was perfectly positioned to strike him, as if to say,

'Why don't you attack?!' They soon got their answer as the freshly separated halves of its body slid off each-other.

Shocked by what their eyes have shown them, they momentarily forgot that they were in a fight. Ashton did not. He once again danced from step to step slashing air and Grimm as he cut through the thick hide. This, at least, got the edge of his blade to glow red and hot enough to sizzle the last Ursa as it passed into its body from under its left armpit and exit via the right side of its neck.

"And so you show us a glimpse of semblance I see. It suits your weapon well." Announced the elder. "From what I saw I'd say that you can manipulate the weight of your weapon and yourself."

'There's no getting anything passed these guys.' Ashton thought to himself.

"I'm eager to see the extent of your abilities and how they can assist you with your sword play." The third cage rises and the next enemies reveals themselves. A trio of boarbatusks galloped out and, the boar like monsters, started to spin viciously towards Ashton. Unlike the beowolf and the Ursa, the boarbatusks are more heavily armoured and can deflect attacks when they spin. And so Ashton doesn't attack and instead holds the blade vertically in front of him to shield himself as the creatures of Grimm launched themselves, in their squealing blood thirst. As the first boarbatusks collided with the flat of Ashton's sword, Ashton's eyes once again turned blue. Managing to dodge a pincer move from the other two enemies before repeating the same defensive strategy. After defending and dodging the repeating attacks of the boarbatusks, the beasts were noticeable slower. An unusual amount of fatigue given the few short minutes it took them to get in this state. Until they eventually couldn't even raise their heads to continue their attacks. Which just meant a short walk and a single swing. One for each of the exhausted monsters with the now inferno red edged blade.

The elder stands once again.

"Well now. I think you may need to explain what happened there." He said with a smile on his face for being stuck as to how the boarbatusks got as tired as they did as quickly as they did.

"My semblance can also affect items and creatures I strike or could strike me. The weight of things I touch can go up by fifty percent every second I touch it directly. Twenty percent every second of indirect contact. The tusks of those creatures became too heavy to lift anymore."

Impressed with the range of abilities so far the elder continues his smile and says, "Three down... Two to go!"

And as soon as those words were said, up came the largest cage yet. The door opened with its familiar metallic roar, and revealed two Death Stalkers.

"At last, I fight!" Ashton roars at the two scorpion giants of the Grimm world.

Snipping their claws closed, telling all who see them that they're ready for the blood of their next victim. Ashton's eyes flashed white and brought the fight to the first Death Stalker. The monster snipped the air in front of it predicting Ashton's path, but didn't expect him to stop just before contact and close enough for Ashton to place his hand directly on the monster's pincher and his eyes turned blue. It pulls its now weighted claw out the way and continued its attack with its other claw. Ashton, instead of weighting the other as well, evades the attack by jumping backwards and towards the other Death Stalker. Which whips its stinger tipped tail at him, and Ashton sidestepped before turning to face the new foe. Off balance due to its tail now stuck in the stone floor, it couldn't easily defend against the young warrior's counter attack. Ashton ran up and onto its back and slashed straight up at its armoured tail, not cutting it but freeing it. Ashton started his next dance. Spinning the blade in circles above his head, along the helpless monsters back. And as if striking a match on its box, the sword's edge caught flame and began it barrage of slices into the heavily armoured back as if to leave a chard black pattern on its back which started to glow red as well. As it heated and caused the powerless giant to scream Ashton delivered his final blow. Placing the tip of his sword on the now structurally weakened shell, his eyes glow a darker blue than before and the monster's armour caved in on itself killing the first of the Death Stalkers.

The final scorpion seemed to go into a frenzy. Enraged by the sight it just seen, it managed to raise its weighted claw high enough for it to pursue the murderer of its kin. Enraged and foolish it struck out with it lighter claw. However, Ashton return his crimson edged executioner's blade to his shoulder. And with it still burning red, delivered a slash between its pinchers removing the large upper claw for the beast's arm. A dancing spin brought Ashton inside its defences. And with his sword held with both hands, eyes glowing blue and blade glowing red, he cleaved straight through the Death Stalker's head. The coliseum now littered with the bodies of the defeated grew quiet once again. The elder warriors were pleased with Ashton skills and his use of his freshly forged blade.

"The last challenge for your metal is ready. After this your blade shall been named and your skills shall be recorded in the books of this great families history."

The elder once against stared at the small hooked blade at the end of Ashton's weapon handle.

"Though I feel some skills have still yet to present themselves. Let us see them with this, your final kill of this trial!"

He raised his hand and from the top of the coliseum itself, rose out the final cage. Within it was a Nevermore. An enormous black raven like creature of Grimm. The top of its cage opened and released it to the sky's.

Circling above head allowed it to see Ashton and his handy work. Cawing and flapping its wings, it let loose a hailstorm of black feathers which was launched at Ashton, spine first. Ashton rapidly spinning the blade above his head cutting and deflecting all but the ones that missed him. The great bird stopped its assault and continued its flight pattern, before changing its angle and swooping down at Ashton. Talons bared and keeping its speed, it ripped through the bodies of the fallen and the stone floor alike. Ashton kept low to the ground until the last second and threw himself out of the bird's path. Rolling onto his feet as the Nevermore passed he brought his sword to the outside of his right leg leveled and his weapon with the smaller blade focused at the beast. The elder looked puzzled at Ashton's actions until he heard the *bang*, as if a gun had gone off. The blade was launched straight at the Grimm towing a thin cable behind it from the handle of the sword. The blade found its mark wrapping around the leg of the bird and hooking onto itself. The Nevermore took, once again, to the sky and held its flight ready to fire another volley of feathers. Ashton was waiting for this moment. He twisted the handle of his sword and the cable was reeled in. His path through the air found him beneath the beast and the cable was bringing Ashton straight up to his target. However he didn't strike the Grimm when he reached it. Instead with his eyes flashing white to lighten himself and his blade, he used the enormous bird as a stepping stone to launch even higher into the sky.

Once reach reached the full height of his jump and length of his cable, his eyes turned the deepest blue that they have been yet, making his blade, his body and the Nevermore at the end of his cable increasingly heavy. The bird, unable to sustain its flight started to fall from the sky as Ashton fell from the heavens. As for Ashton, he had one last dance to perform. He span the great blade all around himself as he was free falling. Cutting all the air around him and once again igniting the swords sharpened edge, leaving a red trail in the air behind him. He then finally twisted the handle of his blade once more, accelerating himself to the helpless Nevermore, and dealt his final blow to the beast as they both slammed to the ground with a burning red trail slowly vanishing from where it once split the sky. Dust and smoke was blown through the arena as the two foes met the ground and the elders sat waiting for it to clear and reveal the results of the ceremony.

Standing on the corpse of his victim, Ashton was in front of the elder warriors, blade side on to display it and this time buried in the heart of the Nevermore instead of the stone of the floor. The three elder warriors stood to recognize the efforts of Ashton and his nameless blade. And the one who had been talking to Ashton give him five slow claps.

"A grappling hook. That, I did not expect." Said the elder.

The elder to his right spoke "A fierce attack in graceful hands and a capable defensive wielded by strong arms. You will both do well in the war to come."

The elder then said with a wheeze, "Coupling the blades already formidable size and weight with the ability to adjust its weight to suit your needs and hinder your foes. And to extend the range of the ability with a projectile is both clever and initiative. (Cough, cough) You will both do well in the war to come."

The final elder speaks. "A burning signal in the sky to show the ferocity of the Clave families main house. As if to show us the way of hope in the war to come. You are Ashton Clave and the executioner's blade, to be hence forth known as, Starburn!"

Ashton raised his sword above his head and shouted proudly, "We will be ready!"


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hey all,**

**This chapter is what I see as the true start of Ashton's story. As chapters go, it's not the longest. But as I'm sure you'll understand, it takes time to build up a ****character. I hope you continue to enjoy it as you continue to read. **

"Fifteen years of training, passed the trial of blades and shades on my first try and forged Starburn. Now... What?" Ashton asked contemplating the time since the naming ceremony.

It's been much duller than he was raised to believe. Waiting for a war which has been on the way since man found dust. Ashton would spend nights looking out at the mountains which marked the allowed territory that members of the main family were forbidden to leave until the war began.

"Tonight is long enough." He said with his sword in his hand and a bag on his back." I will see the other side of these damn hills even if it kills me."

With these words he jumped from the tower of the main family's castle where he was held to hone his skills for the war. The grapple he left at the top ensured that he would land without alerting others to his actions by slowing his decent. Landing softly at the base of the castle and reeling in the cable and hook, whilst repeatedly glancing from left to right. Once he knew the coast was clear, he started to run through the inner and outer village darting from the shadows that were cast by the full moon. Two of his cousins were taking their last night of the trial of shades and blades. Conveniently halving the number for branch family members whom might try to stop him. They were all watching the two twin girls and standing by. Who could spot if they were in need of help and assist them first would be one step closer to being allowed to attempt the trial themselves. The difference between the main house and the branch families wasn't one being first born or wealthier. It was that in the past, that an ancestor of theirs had passed the trial, forged a blade and had it named. This entitled the warrior's future generations to be included in the main household and live with a few more of life's luxuries. No one thought about if their children's children would rather have the freedom of adventure.

Ashton entered the western forest seeing as the trial was in the east. He was now less concerned with keeping in the shadows and maintained a sprint through the woodland.

'The Sun will rise in one hour...' He thought to himself. '...I must be on the other side of the mountains before then!'

Knowing full well that the next opportunity for this is either in five years time, when his next cousin is due to take the trial, or in two years if either of the twins were to fail tonight. Either way, one year of training for nothing is quite long enough. The first hour ends and the mountain pass is in sight, but so is an orange glow on the eastern horizon. He was convinced that he would make it, until the figure of a man stood before him. The horizon's glow illuminated the lone man. Broad shoulders and thick arms attached to a man with short, salt and pepper hair and wearing a brown coat that reached just passed his knees.

"Good morning, father." Ashton said to the man who stood between him and his adventure filled future.

"What do you think you're doing, boy?" Asked the father already knowing full well of the answer.

Ashton simply looked at him and answered, "Trying to live a life." Ashton's dad scoffs at his answer, but allows him to continue. "All we do is fight and train. Train for a war which has killed generations of our family already in training to prepare for it, or from boredom once the training has been completed." Ashton steps towards his father. "I have learned all I have to learn here. I know that if I could just see the world that we're trying to protect, I would have a greater love for it."

Ashton stops in front of his father waiting for his reply. His father does think about it for a moment, and then reaches behind him to bring out his own sword. It's claymore like design of a short handle and long double edged blade was simple and yet striking. Its name was Nimbus' Rage.

Pointing it at his disobedient child, he asked, "You wish to give up the potential of being head of the main household, first commander of the Clave army in the war to come and to take your life into your own hands with the outside worlds dangers? Is that right, boy?"

Ashton just nodded his head, his eyes never leaving his father's.

"So be it! Defend yourself and you shall be permitted to venture as and where you see fit."

The air grew still as the two warriors held their swords with the blades focused at their opponents. The forest behind Ashton was as silent as the mountain tops at their sides, and the valley behind his father promised the un-caged future that he hungered for. A last breath of wind rustled the nearby tree leaves and signalled for the fight to begin. Ashton started to swing the sword in circles all around him. Getting faster and faster, building the heat of his blade by cutting the air. Now with his sword aflame and ready, he moved to land the first strike against his unmoving parent. His sword swing was set to land its blow on the un-armoured left shoulder of his stationary father. A loud *crash* rang out and echoed through the mountain pass. Ashton had been launched backwards into a tree trunk that out skirting the forest. His chest singed and heart going a mile a minute. He slid of the tree, panting and looking up towards his father. Ashton's sword was stuck down in the ground in the space he was stood, just a second ago, and his father appeared to have only moved his sword slightly.

"Would you like to try again?" The unimpressed father asked sarcastically.

Ashton, undeterred and yet still winded, rose to his feet and his eyes started to glow white. He jumped off the ground and kicked off from the tree to launch himself back towards his blade. He then grabbed the handle of his sword to stop and swung his body around it to kick at his father, who simply stepped backwards to dodge it. However his twisting of Starburn's grip fired the grapple hook blade and its cable which Ashton grabs, to quickly ascend into the air. The wind blew him over his target and a flash of deep blue eyes brought Ashton to the ground, and a heavy weighted wire cable to his father. However the father, still yet to be caught off guard by his rebellious child, simply side stepped the cable as it slammed to the ground, kicking up a thick cloud of dust and dirt. Ashton stood at the ready and vigilant off his father is possible counterattack. The cloud of dust achieved nothing except a few seconds of silence, followed by a small yellow spark. Quickly following the spark Ashton, once again found himself stunned with pain and his heart beating the inside of his chest black and blue.

The dust cloud settled revealing Ashton's father, holding his sword pointed down at the available cable. The blade of his sword had split down the centre resembling a tuning fork with sparks of yellow electricity arcing between the two halves.

"Nimbus' Rage." Ashton said, panting and attempting to slow his heart rate. "It's claymore like design is simple and yet the way it unfolds its two halves when electrically charged amplifies its swing to slash and electrify its targets simultaneously. Earlier you touched my chest with it when I swung at you and just now you sent a jolt down my cable."

The blade folded back to its original shape.

"And you would've been sent flying again, if you hadn't have been made heavier by your ability to change your weight." Lectured the father. "Both your abilities and mine still have their weaknesses though. For your weight control, it's that your body and other effected items are harder to move if they're heavier and carry less impact when they're lighter. However, not all abilities have such straight forward repercussions." He raised his left hand and pointed his thumb at his chest. "You felt the way your heart raced, yes? Every time I use my electrical shocks, my heart also starts racing. Regardless of whether my attack has actually landed." He placed his hand back down to his side. "A prolonged battle is not to my advantage."

The Son stood up and walked passed his father to his blade. Reeled in the cable and pulled his sword from the ground.

"Even if your heart rate goes through such a strain when you use your ability, it still defeats mine if I can't make contact with you. If I do, your shocks will launch me away before I can adjust your weight. If my weight is too light my attacks won't carry any impact, to heavy and I lose my manoeuvrability and I'm left a sitting duck if I miss."

The father stabs his sword in the ground and folds his arms.

"So, how would you beat me or someone like me?"

Ashton turns to face he father and looks up at the last of the night's darkness draining from the sky. He sighs as if to accept he defeat.

"Well," he began say, "I would have to catch you of guard or have you already exhausted so you couldn't use your ability without hindering yourself as much as you do to me."

The father walks up to Ashton and places his hand on his shoulder.

"You're forgetting the most straight forward way, which is also most likely to succeed." Ashton just looked puzzled. "You're abilities are impressive and formidable, but your mission wasn't to defeat me, It was to get past me."

Ashton's shoulders sank with his frustration.

"You could have made yourself light enough to have the wind carry you miles away from here and there would've been nothing I could've done." Ashton's father said while picking up his sword."Now let's go back."

Ashton and his father turned to see the morning Sun illuminated the main household's castle, the village, the trees in the forest and mountains that surrounds them. To the north Ashton could see the hunting grounds for the trial of blades and shades. The south showed the crescent moon coliseum where the naming ceremony was held. All of the experiences he had so far lay before him and his father who was holding him to his side with an arm over Ashton's shoulders.

"Just promise me you'll be safe and keep the families training secrets." Ashton's father said with a slightly strained voice. "Members of the branch family will be sent after you so make sure to keep on the move."

His arm slid off Ashton's back as he sat on the floor.

"Be sure to make friends and learn all you can from your journey..."

He flopped flat on his back, arms out to the sides and pinned.

"...And always be ready."

Ashton turned to the mountain pass and started walking.

"Your coat will only be affected for as long as I'm within one hundred meters of you, it will get lighter once I'm passed that."

Ashton turned one last time to see his father and his home, and his father looked up at him and saw the tears in his eyes as he said, "I will be ready!"

And with that Ashton's eyes started glowing a bright white and he leapt into the mountain breeze that took him towards his dreams. As Ashton vanished over the open mountain plains as a squad of three branch family members approached his father.

" ! Are you ok!?" Asked one of them.

"Yes I'm fine." He sat up, "There's nothing like seeing your Son grow up."

"Do you mean, see the Sun go up', sir?" Asked a different soldier.

"Yeah... sure." Smiled Zcholts.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hey all,**

**Over the next chapters I hope I can continue to improve my writing style in both the personas of my characters, and take bigger strides towards more humor and action scenes. The start, we have the introduction of a new tool for Ashton and his first story of the bravery of people that live on the other side of the mountains.**

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To the west of the Clave family's mountain range, there was a small town called Cleat where the morning's beauty was lost on some. A small cafe and its waitress were being shouted at by four thug like goons.

"WHAT DO YA MEAN, 'YOU AIN'T GOT THE MONEY'!? DO YOU REALIZE HOW UPSET OUR LEADER IS GONNA BE?!" Yelled one of the men at the waitress, causing her to shriek.

"I told you two days ago!" She replied in a panic. "I can only pay you on Wednesdays!"

"AND?! IS THAT MEANT TA BE SOME SORT OF EXCUSE?!" He grabs her arm, causing her to shriek again, and pulled her out from the cafe into the street. "LET'S SEE IF THE BOSS LIKES HAVING TO WAIT FOR YOU TO PAY YOUR DUES!"

The other three goons walk out of the shop behind them, chuckling at the women's situation. But then they all stopped at the sound of a faint yelling in the distance.

"What's that?" Asked one of the goons who was behind the captive and the leader dragging her along.

The yelling slowly got louder and louder, and as the goon looked up, Ashton fell from the sky right on top of the curious thug. The remaining three men looked baffled with their jaws on the floor as the dust cloud settled and a frost covered and shivering Ashton emerged.

"S-soo...c-c-cold." Ashton said rubbing his frost covered arms in an effort to get warm.

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!" The lead thug yelled at the frosted Ashton.

"I'm Ashton. What's your name?" He replied.

"WHO AM I? I'M THE GUY WHO'S GONNA KICK YOUR ASS UP YOUR NECK!" The angry thug answered.

"That's a long name." Ashton stated.

"THAT'S NOT MY NAME DUMB-ASS!" The nameless goon got even more aggravated. "NOW WHAT ARE YOU DO ABOUT OUR GUY YOU JUST LANDED ON?!"

Ashton looked down at his feet to see one of the men faced down and unconscious under his shoes.

"Oh my God! I thought you were the floor!" He said, stepping off the moaning goon, scratching the back of his head and gives a slight awkward chuckle before sighing.

The lead goon looked at the goofy young man, and says, "GIVE US ALL THE MONEY AND DUST IN YOU POCKETS AND YOUR BAG!"

Ashton looks back at him with his head on a tilt. "Why?"

The goon pushed the captive woman towards one of his two remaining men, who grabbed her wrists and folded her arm behind her back, making her scream in the process. The leader started walking towards Ashton and grabs him by the collar of his jacket.

"IT'S PAYMENT FOR TAKING UP OUR TIME AND INJURING MY GUY!" He replied, yelling right up to Ashton's face. Ashton however was no longer paying attention to the loud mouthed thug. His eyes were fixed on the young lady and the red marks on her wrists were the thug had a hold of her.

"Why have you hurt her?" Ashton asked with his eyes still focused on the woman injuries.

"SHE OWES OUR BOSS MONEY FOR KEEPING HER BUSINESS IN ONE PIECE! SHE IS REFUSING TO PAY UP!"

The woman shouts back at the goon. "I told you that I'd have the money for you on Wednesday!" The thug holding her pulled on her arm making her yell out in pain and to shut her up.

"So that's what's going on... Extortion." Ashton said with a serious tone in his voice.

"HA, HARDLY!" The loudmouth laughed. "IT'S FOR SERVICES GIVEN FROM OUR BOSS!" Ashton looks back at the thug pulling at Ashton's collar.

"What service?" He asked.

"FOR KEEPING OUT THE GRIMM! OUR BOSS IS A LICENSED HUNTER!"

Ashton's eyes widened upon hearing the new information.

"NOW THEN..." The thug continued, reaching behind him and pulling out a dagger with his left hand pointing the tip at Ashton's throat. "DON'T MAKE ME ASK AGAIN AND GIVE ME YOUR MONEY AND DU...OUHG! The thug grunted as Ashton plants his fist deep in his chest winding him.

"So that's how it is. You guy's take advantage of people in need of protection from Grimm and keep them afraid to keep them paying. Disgusting." Said Ashton, who was morally outraged by what he had heard. "It's a hunter's duty to defend people from Grimm. Not a job, a duty!"

The winded thug jumped backwards and unsheathed his second dagger. The other two thugs release the young lady and reveal their weapons. One has a double sided battle axe and the other has metal whip. Ashton smiled and closed his eyes as he placed his left hand on his hip and raised his right arm to rest Starburn across his shoulders. He opens his eyes looking straight at his targets. However, they returned a confused stare.

"ARE YOU FORGETTING SOMETHING?" The loud mouth asked.

Ashton looked at his hand that should have been holding Starburn, and only then did he realize that it was empty. A look of surprise, fear and panic overcame Ashton's face before he looked straight up, which the thugs also did trying to find out what he was looking for. A red streak flew through the air and struck the ground a few miles away from the village.

Realizing that the cold must have made him drop it before he made himself heavier to land, Ashton simply said, "Well... Crap."

The thug armed with the axe noticed Ashton's focus shift to the strange streak of light and took this chance to attack first. He ran and lunged at Ashton with a downward swing. Ashton calmly stepped back with his right foot, pivoting on his left to turn his body side on to the evaded attacker. Ashton stood on the long handle of the axe and placed his right hand over his eyes, like the peak of a cap, and squinted in the direction off Starburn's landing. Furious from being ignored the thug let out a growl, under his breath, and went to pull his axe from under Ashton's foot. At first, the man struggled and assumed that it was just stuck in the ground. However, during his struggle to draw his weapon, Ashton had used his fancy foot work to end up behind him. He placed a hand on either shoulder and Ashton pulled him backwards and pushed him down, causing him to slam his back on the floor and leave him unable to get back up. A slash of air and a loud crack noise flew just over Ashton's head as he ducked. However, the next whip lash hit Ashton's arm wrapping around it, which he raised in defence.

"Is that it?" Asked the whip wielding goon, pulling at Ashton's arm.

In came the loud mouth, using this as an opportunity to attack while Ashton's movements were hindered. The loud thug let out a roar as he charged at the young warrior. But another short couple of dance steps and Ashton moved towards his attacker dodging the large, overlapping swipes he took by darting under the slashes, and pulls the whip down across the loud goon shoulder and chest, whilst freeing himself from it. The now super weighted whip served well in pinning the loud mouth to the floor. The last thug, now unarmed, was starting to do his fair share of sweating. He took the only real option left and bolted, leaving his incapacitated team behind. The town's residents which came out to see what was causing the ruckus were all in shock as Ashton stood above the defeated thugs. He looked at the faces of the townsfolk and noticed that they weren't smiling. They were instead afraid.

The young lady that Ashton rescued walked up to him and said, "Thank you for helping. I work in that coffee shop. Do you want anything?"

"A coffee sounds great." Ashton replied. "I'm still freezing cold." He says brushing the frost of his coat that clung to him during the fight.

They both enter the shop and the thugs were left on the floor groaning and straining under the weight of their own clothes. The coffee shop was simplistic. A wooden floor with round wooden tables, a small display counter showing off a selection of cakes and biscuits. The young lady showed Ashton to one of the tables before going behind the counter to get him his drink. He sat at the table with a frustrated look on his face.

"If you keep that look on your face, you'll get wrinkles." The young lady said before setting down the cup on the table in front of Ashton along with a piece of carrot cake as an extra thank you.

"I'm sorry, but I'm confused." He said looking up at her. "First, I'm Ashton. What's your name?"

The young lady blushed, "Oh, I forgot to introduce myself!" She gave a small wave. "I'm Vicky. Nice to meet you."

"You too." replied Ashton. "So, why wasn't anyone happy to see those guys get taken down a peg? I mean, they weren't exactly moral upstanding citizens."

Vicky took the seat opposite to Ashton and looked down at her lap. "You heard what that guy said earlier. They help to keep out the Grimm. They just ask for too much in return. But with living outside the major cities, we are at a bigger risk of Grimm attacks and so we can't say no. I mean we're safe and that's down to the hunter who leads those guys."

Ashton takes a sip of his coffee. "So you can't live with them or without them. But this guy doesn't live inside the town?" Ashton asked her.

She looked up from her lap and at Ashton. "No. They camp nearby. No one really knows where or why they even started to defend the town. We never even asked them to help. But the number of Grimm attacks has gone down since they've been here. So it's not all bad." Vicky put on a small smile, but Ashton was able to see that her happiness was only skin deep.

"Thank you for your hospitality." Ashton says standing up.

Vicky stands as well and says, "Umm... Y-you're welcome."

As Ashton turned and walked towards the door, he gets a note pad and pen from his trouser pocket and notes down a few things. Reading aloud from his list, he says, "Find hideout, talk to the hunter in charge, deliver the thugs and find Starburn, come back and eat cake."

"What's that?" Vicky asked.

"My things to do list." Replied Ashton.

"But you haven't got a weapon and you don't know where to look!"

Ashton stops with his hand on the door knob and looks back with a smile on his face. "Well I have to do something to repay you for the coffee."

Vicky looked at him in shock with tears in her eyes. She wiped them away and smiles as she walked back behind the counter picking something up wrapped in an old cloth. She walked over to Ashton and hands it to him. He turned to her, taking the item and started to unwrap it. His eyes widened when he saw a large calibre revolver sitting in a brown leather leg holster and a canister of blue dust. The revolver was a beautiful piece. Steel with a black leather grip. The two halves of the grip was divided by a golden line which travelled from the base of the hammer, under the grip which also featured a key ring which would swing freely, before continuing up the front of the grip, and worked its way around the trigger acting like its guard and finishing on the guns metallic silver body. The barrel was nine inches long and wide enough to place your thumb in with ease.

Ashton was still admiring its beauty as Vicky smiled and said, "It was my fathers." Ashton looked up from the gun. "He died a few years ago. A pack of beowolves came during the night and started to attack the townspeople. He helped fend them off until a nearby squad of huntsmen saw them off. But by then it was too late. He left me this gun and told me to only ever use it to help people."

Ashton interrupted. "That's why you didn't use it against those thugs."

She nodded. "That..." She continued, " and I can't actually fire it. Its kick back is way too strong. One of the farming boys tried to use it and when he pulled the trigger it lashed back, braking out of his hand and cracked his collar bone."

Ashton smiled. "Your father must have been quite the man. Did he have a name for it?"

She smiled and gave another nod. "Moonshine. If you shoot regular bullets with it, its muzzle flash is bright and silver. But if you add a little dust to the shot and add some of your aura, providing it is compatible with your aura type, it can change colour and have the abilities of the aura. My father's aura was blue. He called his attack 'Blue Moon'." She closed Ashton's hands around it. "If you help us it's yours."

Shocked Ashton said, "But your father wanted you to have it!"

Vicky shook her head. "No. He wanted me to use it to protect the people of this town. And by giving it to you, I'm doing that. I can tell by your words that you're a good person and that I can trust you to keep it safe. So please. Use it to help us against these thugs and then to help everyone else you meet too."

Ashton looked deep into her eyes. They were windows into how strongly she felt about this. There was no way he could refuse her, and so he did the next best thing.

"I swear to this weapon, my family and my pride. I will use it to help all those I can." He said these words with nothing but the most serious of expressions. He then strapped it to his right leg, placed the dust in his bag with one box of fifteen rounds of ammunition, before turning back towards the door, opening it stepping into the light that flooded in from outside.

'Wow.' Vicky thought to herself. 'He has a presence just like my dad. Deadly serious but still like a little kid.' She turned and started to clear the table that her and Ashton had used and stared down at a single crumb on a plate with a baffled look. 'Did he eat that whole slice during the short time I was looking at my lap?'

* * *

Meanwhile, back in the Clave family castle. In a large room of the castle, was standing before the wise elders. The room was not unlike a courtroom, with the elders sat at a raised desk made entirely of a dark grey stone while the accused stood on a round platform which illuminated him in a column of light. Zcholts' sword is placed, point first, into a large rugged stone that lay between him and the elders. This symbolizes that, like a sword cast in a rock cannot fight; a man cast in shame cannot wield it.

" , you stand here to answer the sins of your son. Why has he left his duty, family and honour?" The voice of the head wise elder boomed through the hall. Zcholts looked up at the elders through squinted eyes. The light of the podium on which he was stood blurred the images of the elders, reducing them to dark silhouettes.

Zcholts began his defence. "My son is faithful to his duty, his family and his honour. Though still young, he excels in every aspect of battle and strategy. He does not take to vows lightly and is still standing ready for the war to come. His resent pilgrimage is no exception. He journeys to challenge himself in new lands and against new foes. Not everything we train for is what we will face and he is learning his potential enemy to win our war."

Zcholts' words caused much conversation in the stands overlooking the court. The head elder raised a hammer, the sort that is used to shape steel into blades, and slammed it onto a sheet of metal that lay on the table. The loud clang brought silence to the court.

"And what's to stop him from exposing the secrets of the family and its methods? As you've said, and documented in the past, there are plenty of things out there, people with their unknown abilities which may sway his resolve. Can you tell me that there is no chance that he would reveal anything about our ancient ways?" The elder asked with an under note of scepticism.

Zcholts paused for a few moments.

"No." He answered. "But as someone who believes that pilgrimages should be added to the way we raise our young warriors. I think that if nothing else, this is our chance to learn if improvements will come to those who venture out and seek them."

Zcholts could just about make out the shaking of the elder's head.

"We are aware of your campaign to adjust the raising of young warriors to allow for pilgrimages over the past eighteen months. However, your somewhat radical ideas are far from being permitted by the council. And so we, the wise elders will reassess and discuss the disciplinary action for Ashton Clave's actions of abandoning the family and for you for allowing his escape." The hammer strikes the sheet of metal again signalling the start of the reassess and the court was filled with conversation from the stands once again.

* * *

**A/N: So, Ashton's actions are having a back lash to his father, but what will become of his future? And while that's being worked out, Ashton is on his way to meet the first hunter outside of the Clave. This could be a short trip out for the young warrior, but let's see how the cards decide to fall. **

**Thanks for reading, **

**ManxMG **


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hey all,**

**As I wrote this chapter I found what I enjoyed most about writing. The freedom and creativity of weapons, semblances and fighting styles that you can unleash in a good fight scene. This chapter allowed me to exercise my artistic license in this area and, as I said, I really enjoyed writing it. I hope you enjoy. :) **

* * *

Near the outskirts of Cleat, Ashton was looking down at the three captive thugs. Hog tied and one particular thug gagged, Ashton lashing a rope to a fist sized rock.

"As you can probably tell, I'm not from round here." Said Ashton as he pulled the knot tight, which secured the rope to the rock. "And as I'm told, neither are you. Your base is nearby, but no one in the town knows for sure, or they don't want trouble, and so refuse to tell me." Ashton eyes flashed white as he gently tossed the rock straight up in the air which towed the long rope behind it. "Here's the game. I can make things heavier and lighter at will. However, if something I've changed the weight of gets over 100 meters away, my change of weight is cancelled."

The end of the rope is raised off the floor and Ashton grasped it in one hand.

"This rope is 80 meters long." He lets the end of the rope go and let's it rise with the rock.

One of the thugs not gagged smiled and said, "What makes you think that we'd tell you? I mean you don't know our boss, but after this you get a real taste of how to really interrogate someone!"

The other goon spoke up too.

"Yeah! You don't scare us as much as our boss does! No comparison!"

A whistling followed by the crashing of the floating rock made both of the formerly unimpressed thugs fall silent with a look of terror, whilst it made the gagged loudmouth start crying in panic as the rock had landed mere inches in front of him.

"Ah yes! I got my rope back." Said Ashton

He untied the rock and tied it to the loudmouth's wrists and ankles.

"Now then, rock number two, you're up!" Said Ashton with a snigger. "You get it? 'Cause you'll be up... And erm... Pun."

Ashton's eyes flash white as he picks up the gagged thug with the rope.

"See ya'!" Ashton says giving him a small push upwards. "At that speed he has ten seconds. And it doesn't really matter if you do tell me. Just so long as you see the results of what happens if you don't."

The ends of the rope rose off the ground again and Ashton grabs the very end.

"So anyone want to avoid getting very, very messy?" Asked Ashton. "We are in the landing zone."

"I'LL TAKE YOU THERE! JUST DON'T LET ME GO!"

Ashton looked up the see that the loudmouth had managed to chew through the gag in a desperate attempt to save his life.

"Only he could shout at you from 80 meters away." Ashton said jokingly.

The other two thugs said, "uh-huh." In agreement.

With all three goons at the end of the rope, ten meters above Ashton's head, like a child with a balloon held in the air by a make shift kite above them. Ashton was walking deeper into the woodland area that surrounded Cleat. Along the way there were an unexpected number of trip wires, pit falls and other traps that seemed to litter the woodland area. Ashton continued on the introductions of his loud mouthed captive until he heard a distant sound which he was quite familiar with. It was the panicked and aggravated roars of a Grimm, a Beowulf to be exact. Worried that the floating trio would alert any other Grimm to his presence, he reeled them in, gagged the thugs who could still call out, and instead carried them on the end of a long stick which he rested over one shoulder. Walking cautiously to avoid the traps and making any noise which would alert anyone or anything to their presence meant slowing his pace. But eventually, Ashton followed the cries of the Beowulf to the bandit's camp.

Still surrounded by trees, but thinner than the rest of the forest, the camp was a collection of yurts with tree houses around its perimeter. In the middle of the camp, a cage, high up on a topped and branchless tree, contained the Beowulf. With no further need to be weary of traps, Ashton stepped out of hiding and began walking into the bandit's stronghold. Figures in the trees and the ones in the camp stopped what they were doing and focused their attention on Ashton and their incapacitated comrades. Ashton walked all the way to the tree that held the captive Grimm, and at the base of the tree was a yurt which warranted its own guard. He continued towards the guard and the guard stepped towards him.

"Our boss is expecting you." Said the broad shouldered guard with a deep voice.

He turned to the doorway of the yurt and lead Ashton through, to meet the boss of this band of thugs. Stepping through, Ashton was instantly surprised by what he saw. The inside of the tent was covered in pinks and bright blues. On one side of the tent was a book shelf with romantic novels and a doll house on the other a bright pink hammock with a collection of teddy bears, baby seal dolls and various other brightly coloured stuffed animals. And finally in the back, sat on a very large bean bag chair and eating a strawberry sundae, was a young lady no older then Ashton.

The somewhat surprised Ashton could only think to say, "erm... Hi..."

The young lady having just put a spoon full of ice cream in her mouth looked back at Ashton.

She pulled the spoon from her mouth, blinked a few time and said back, "Hi. Are you a new recruit? I'm Irene, what's your name?"

She tilted her head to the side, tilting her pink, curly, doll like hair at the same time.

Ashton replied, "I'm Ashton... Erm are you the boss of these guys?"

He put down his captives next to him returning them to their original weight.

"Yep, I'm their boss. Thank for bringing them back." Irene answered.

Still a little surprised Ashton asked, "Your guard said I was expected. So the guy I let get away came here?"

"Yep." She answered climbing out of the chair and walking to the hammock.

She lifted one of the stuffed bears which raised the hammock slightly and down came the battered and bruised runaway thug suspended from the ceiling by a rope tied to his legs.

"Thanks for reminding me to take him down. The last thing I want is for him to dirty my tent up again with his stupid blood. Nigel, you can take him down now and take him outside with the others. I'll see to them later."

The guard quickly did what he was told, removing the unconscious man and his three tied up accomplices, leaving Ashton and Irene alone.

"So, are you here to join?" She asks again.

Ashton shook off the spectacle he just witnessed and realized that she is more formidable than he first believed.

"No..." He answered "If anything, I'm here to file a complaint."

Taking her seat on the bean bag chair, she chuckled.

"Well from what that other guy told me I suppose them attacking you is complaint worthy."

Ashton interrupted her and said, "I'm not complaining about them attacking me! They told me you were a huntress! If that's true, why were you taking money from the people in the town?!"

Irene, shocked by what he had told her slowly stood up and walked towards him. Stopping a few steps away she looked straight into Ashton's eyes before bowing from the waste.

"I'm sorry!" She replied once again shocking Ashton. She raised her head and explained. "These men are all thugs and thieves and have done many wrongs in their lives. That's why I need them."

Ashton continues wearing his confused look on his face.

"My specialty is traps. That's my preferred method for hunting Grimm. And every traps needs bait. I use their negative thoughts and emotions to draw the Grimm from the entire area here and away from the town. The only flaw is that we are to the west of Cleat. So any Grimm on the east of the town gets drawn towards it. So I have to send out platoons to that side of the town to defend it. Some of the men I send, however, return to old habits when they go through the town. And they say that they'll stop protecting anyone who doesn't give them basically anything they want. So if they return late or in suspicious circumstances, I interrogate them."

With things a bit clearer Ashton returned to his usual composure.

"I'm impressed." Said Ashton. "I just wouldn't expect that someone as unassuming as you could be capable of keeping all these criminals restrained."

Irene smiled, "Well I'd have to thank my semblance for that. I can create deep feelings of terror in anyone as long as I can see them. It's not overly becoming of a girly girl like me, but being able to paralyze people and Grimm in fear can be very helpful."

She giggled tilting her head to the side and raising her hand to her mouth. Ashton stood there wide eyed and thought to himself, 'This little girl is capable of that! No wonder those guys were terrified of her!'

"Boss!" Shouted Nigel running through the doorway. "We've got trouble!"

"Is it Grimm? Why wasn't the alarm sounded?" Irene asked aggressively.

"It's not Grimm. It's one of the new guys. He's called Rink. He's rallied most of the men together and is leading the men into Cleat to ransack. He says that they've got no reason to fear you and have defended the town for long enough." Explained Nigel.

Irene let out a growl as she stomped her way towards her doll house. She lifted the roof of the house reached inside and pulled out a bright pink yoyo with a teddy bear with a heart on its chest engraved in the side.

"Let's bring them back before they can do any damage we can't undo!" She says as she stomps her way out of the tent.

She stops and looks at Ashton.

"Are you coming too?" She asked aggressively.

Ashton looked at the revolver holstered to his leg before answering, "Lead the way!"

Meanwhile, in the Cleat. People were running, clearing the streets, to escape the mob of bandits who were carrying a large cage covered by a sheet into the town centre. When they got there a man stood on top of the cage.

"Townsfolk of Cleat! My name is Rink! I'm here to announce the good news! We're moving out! The thing is we feel like we deserve a going away gift for doing such a good job of protecting the town! So any valuables which you can gratefully give to us would be a lovely gesture! But I'm afraid we only have a short time to accept them!"

Rink jumps off the cage, pulling the sheet off as he lands. Revealing a Beowulf which growls and snarls at the men surrounding it.

"This Grimm misses its Grimm buddies so much, that he calls out to them every now and then! Every hour in fact! And we just so happen to be 20 minutes away from 4 o'clock! That's your time limit before we leave! If we can be assed we'll take the Grimm with us! But that depends on how good we feel in 20 minutes time! Thank you and please, give generously!"

The bandits let out a group laugh as Rink finishes his demands and the first few people of the town start bringing out their possessions. A steadily growing pile of family heirlooms and jewellery boxes started to grow when a young boy struggled with a large item wrapped in cloth. Clearly being too large for the boy Rink walked up to him.

"Hey, Kid. What do you have there?" He asked standing over the boy.

"It's something I found earlier today when walking through the woods. P...please take it and the Grimm with you." Said the child as he stood it on one end for Rink to inspect.

As the cloth revealed the missing Starburn, Rinks eyes widened. He went to pick it up and struggled trying to do so, he held it in both hands and chuckled.

"This thing is so heavy. I wouldn't want to turn away such a generous gift. But it's so heavy we might need to leave the Grimm here just to make room." Rink said laughing as he held the grand blade in his bloated, muscular arms.

The young boy walked back to his home crying loudly from rinks callus words. That was when a commotion broke out. A group of men all lay unconscious as Irene walked towards the group of bandits whilst playing with her yoyo. A small group of men went to attack her, and they soon met Irene's yoyo at full speed. Rolling it down to the ground it touched down on the floor before running along the ground and skipping up to hit the first charging attacker in the face. The toy flew into the air coming straight back down into her palm, before she turned all the way right swinging the yoyo out. Wrapping the leg of the attacker on her left taking his legs from under him knocking him out as he hit the floor. And the third man swung a club down at her. Her trusty yoyo, however, sped across the ground, up the leg of the thug, hitting him in the crotch and incapacitating him as well. Irene reeled in the yoyo stood upright with one hand on her hip and the other holding the yoyo and pointed it straight at Rink.

"Hey! New guy!" She yelled with a furious look on her face. "It's time you learned who is in charge!"

The appearance of Irene put a lot of the bandits on edge.

But Rink stabbed his newly acquired blade into the ground and yelled, "I think who's in charge is up for debate!"

Irene gritted her teeth. "We'll see about that!" She yelled back.

The white of her eyes changed to black and one by one the bandits between Irene and Rink began to sweat and shake in fear. But Rink didn't move. Instead, he slipped a hand into his pocket and allowed himself to be hit by fear. Irene slowly started walking towards Rink. Rolling her yoyo up and down its string as she walked. Now standing over Rink, Irene threw the yoyo to the ground. Skimming it once again to hit her target. Just before it landed however, a large flash of light went off from the top of the cage where Rink was standing. Irene blinded by the light pulled her hands up over her face, but she was too late.

"The trouble with your semblance is this..." Rink said with the fear effects warring off. "You have to maintain eye contact. This means when you blink or just close your eyes, the effects wear off for a short amount of time."

Rink started smiling. "And as un-girly as your ability is, you still can't keep your eyes open when you go to strike someone, can you?" Rink pulled the switch for the flash bomb out from his pocket. "And the flash that just went off was bright enough to blind you even if you eyes were closed. Why else do you think I had all my men facing away from the cage? Hahahaha!"

Rink grabbed a fist full of Irene's hair and punched her in the face. A clump of pink hair remained in Rink's hand as Irene flew backwards, tumbling along the floor.

"You'll get your vision back in around 5 minutes. And I don't want you using that pesky ability. So, my next best option is to make your eyes so swollen that you can't open them." Rink said as he walked towards the helpless Irene. "You should be proud of us. We made this town into the perfect trap for you. As you've shown us, what makes a trap is that the prey can't tell it's a trap."

He once again picked her up by her hair and continued to say, "I suppose I could just tie you up and put a blindfold on you to stop you from using your semblance..."

He raised his first and again, aimed at her face.

"...but where would be the fun in that?!"

Rink swung at her face when a bright flash of light and the sound of a gun shot rang out. A bullet whistled passed Rink's head, smashing a bar of the cage, passed through the Beowulf's head, burying itself in another bar, and bending it completely out of shape. Rink looked over to where the Grimm's left side of its face used to be before the lifeless body slumped to the floor of its cage. Irene cracked a small smile.

"An even better trap is having bait that the prey can't pass up. I was your perfect bait, or, getting one up on me was." Irene spoke, straining through the steadily swelling left side of her face and yet still giving a little chuckle at the end.

Rink looked over to the source of the shot fired, and saw Ashton holding Moonshine in his right hand. Ashton looked down at his feet and saw the marks he left on the ground from firing the gun.

"It pushed me back a whole 12 inches. Vicky wasn't lying about this gun being powerful. Her father must've been a real fighter to have used this like he did."

Ashton smiled and pulled the hammer back with his thumb for a second shot. Rink was stunned by the new comer, but looked back at Irene and landed the punch he was meant to and again launching her across the ground. She was caught by Nigel, who picked her up and started to make a hasty retreat. A group of bandits started to pursue him, but Ashton intercepted them. Using the barrel of the gun and his fancy foot work, Ashton danced around the bandits and one by one delivered a single blow to the back of their heads, knocking them out. Rink watched as 10, 15, 20 of his men all charged in only to be smashed to the floor. Rink looked around him a saw that only 10 men including himself were left. A crowd of townsfolk onlookers gathered around the town centre. He saw an opportunity to maybe get out of this situation in one peace.

He ran at the crowd grabbed a random young lady from the crowd and through her on the floor in front of the cage. He grabbed Starburn, holding it diagonally with the sharpened edge facing up. And with his other hand grabbed his new hostage by the back of her neck and forced her neck down, until it was nearly touching the curved edge. Ashton looked over and saw what Rink intended to do and pointed the gun at him. Ashton's eyes widened when he realized that the captive was, once again, Vicky.

"Does this kinda thing happen a lot to you Vicky?" Ashton asked sarcastically.

"I'm sorry Ashton!" She yelled back.

"One more step and I'll and put her throat to my blade!" Rink yells.

"Wrong!" Ashton quickly replied.

"What do you mean, 'wrong'?" Rink asked looking confused.

"The blade is mine. Its name is Starburn." Ashton said this with a small smile on his face.

Despite the circumstances he was glad to see his sword again.

"What's the matter? Don't believe me?"

Rink took a moment. It wasn't him who was questioning whether or not the blade was made by this guy. Like it mattered at the moment.

"If you want proof..." Continued Ashton, "twist the handle wait a second and twist it again. Oh and don't forget to hang on."

'What could he be blabbering about?' Rink thought to himself. 'I don't care about this crap! I just want a way out of here!'

That's when Nigel came out from behind a building and stood at the ready. Rink glanced over at him and that's when Vicky took her chance. She elbowed Rink in the crotch and did as Ashton said. She twisted the handle and the grapple blade fired off and imbedded itself in a building. And twisting the handle once more, she was pulled away to safety. Even now Rink was looking for a way out. As the last of his men were incapacitated by Ashton and Nigel, he attempted to sneak away. But suddenly he became frozen. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end and the pressure of a presence weighed his shoulders down. The air seemed to be getting harder to breathe in and the very earth itself felt like it was going to give from under his feet and throw him into an abyss. He slowly turned his head to look over his left shoulder. And stood over him on the building to his left, was Irene. The whites of her eyes seemed to be glowing black.

Her black eyes pierced his flesh and pinned him to the floor.

"You're right about my abilities weaknesses." She said while maintaining her blood thirsty stare. "But I can apply it in ways where eye sight doesn't become a factor." She pointed at his feet. "I had Nigel surround you on that flank so that you had to retreat past here."

Rink looked down to the floor to see a glyph.

"This is my fear trap. I cast a glyph on the floor for my target to walk on and I activate it with my fear inducing stare. You'll be in so much fear now; you will never be able to leave that circle unless I turn it off."

Crippled by terror, Rink started to mumble. "P-please. T-t-turn it it i-it off-f-ff."

Irene jumped down from the roof top and started to slowly walk towards the helpless thug.

"What was that?" She asked.

"I c-c-can't t-take i-i-it." He continued to say with the starts of tears rolling out of his eyes.

Irene stopped in front of him and cupped her hand around her ear.

"One more time."

His mind close to breaking he screamed, "MAKE IT STOP!"

Irene smiled tilted her head and replied, "No. It's never going to stop. You may as well get comfortable. Your punishment has only just begun."

A final blood curdling scream sounded through the town. And it was safe once more.

Irene and Nigel stayed in Cleat after that. They defended the town from Grimm that were being attracted to the bandits' negativity until a local kingdom policing force could come and collect them. All the bounties the men had on their heads were paid directly to the town, and after that they could afford robotic security soldiers from Ironwood securities to defend Cleat and its people. Vicky stood by her decision to let Ashton keep Moonshine, but before he left, she made him promise again to use it to protect people. Ashton made the same vow.

"I swear to this weapon, my family and my pride. I will use it to help all those I can."

He left with Moonshine strapped to his leg, Starburn across his shoulders, and the people of Cleat with their smiles returned.

Back in the Clave family castle, court was back in session.

" Clave. The wise elders are ready to pass their judgment. Are you prepared?" The head elder said with the familiar echo of the court room.

"I am." Zcholts replied without pause.

"As to the crimes you are guilty of , for the possible leaking of the Clave family's secrets, we order you to serve as invigilator to the next trial of blades and shades during which you will stand to attention during the daylight hours and serve as body guard for the applicants during the night hours. If you find this punishment acceptable draw your sword from the stone and be free from the guilt of you crime."

Zcholts stepped forward grabbed the handle of his blade, Nibus' Rage, and drew it free from the stone.

"And as for Ashton Clave and his actions, he will be retrieved and brought back by means of force if needed."

Zcholts interrupted. "Am I to understand that the warrior's rights are in effect with this judgement?"

"You would be correct. If he gives himself willingly and no secrets have been given, he will receive a reduced sentence. However, if he resists and/or has given away vital intelligence and secrets, he will be more severely reprimanded."

"And what if he resists his pursuers and is victorious?" Zcholts asked.

"Then we as the council of the wise warriors shall accept this as a sign from the ancestors, that Ashton's actions are their will."

"Now then, as for the pursuers. They will be warriors whom are still of the branch family and if they are successful, will become fully fledged members of the main household along with their descendants."

The elder unravelled a scroll.

"Markus and his lance Percutio, Kato and her shield Silver's soul and Nile and his Trident Algiz. You three will be selected for this task. Do you accept?"

The three warriors stood up from their seats and spoke in unison, "For the honour of the main house. I accept this task!"

The three elders all stood.

"And with that, this court is adjourned."

The hammer striked the metal strip for the last time and light flooded the courtroom. Zcholts continued to stand on the podium for a while longer. He was familiar with all of their names. Markus, the young knight who can pierce or deflect any attack or attacker with his lance. Kato, the woman with the absolute defence and countering technique. And lastly Nile, a seasoned warrior who is said to have killed a pack of 50 Ursa in 5 minutes, and all of them were killed with the exact same deadly precise wounds from him throwing his trident. Not from thrusting it. And all of them have undergone the trial of blades and shades and the naming ceremony. This would be their final step to being counted in the history books of the Clave family.

Zcholts smiled and thought to himself, 'Well my son, you did say you were getting bored. There'll be none of that with them after you. Do well, Ashton, and make sure you come home by your own accord. You will always do the family and me proud. I hope you know that.'

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**A/N: Hey again,**

**So as you might be able to tell, I've taken the fact that I enjoyed writing the fight scene so much to push me to write another. I hope you're looking forward to reading the next few action packed chapters as I build the plot for the future around the clash of blades and the thrill of the fight. :) **


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Hey all,**

**This chapter has Ashton's first steps into one of the four kingdoms of Remnant. A guy from a closed off society and knows next to nothing about the outside world in the northern military capital of the world... What could possible go wrong? Or is a similar question 'What could go right?' **

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Ashton continued his journey exploring Remnant. Travelling even further west, he came across the first capital he had ever seen.

"Atlas." He said to himself under his breath.

The large city stood tall with its white, stone walled buildings and cobble stone streets. As Ashton was walking through the town, he was taking in all the different sights and sounds. People were going about their own day to day lives without fear of the Grimm. He noticed the amount of soldiers walking around the town with what appeared to be automatic rifles in their hands. Atlas was clearly a military power to be reckoned with. Ashton was noticing that an awfully large amount of people were staring at him as he walked through the city's busy central plaza. Eventually, two soldiers approached him.

"Excuse me citizen." Said one soldier. "But can I ask you to sheath your sword? I afraid that you're making the other citizens uneasy."

Ashton looked over his shoulder and looked at Starburn. He then took another look at the people passing by and how they were looking at him with either a glimmer of fear or disapproval. He then looked back at the men.

"I'm afraid, I don't have a sheath for it." He explained.

"Really?" The soldier asked with a sceptical tone in his voice. "Can you provide proof that the weapon is yours, sir?"

"What? Like a receipt?" Ashton asked before chuckling. "I made it. I didn't pay for it. Sorry, but no receipt."

This made the soldiers take a quick and brief look at each other. The soldier held out his hand.

"I'm afraid I'm gonna have to confiscate the weapon, sir."

"What!? Seriously!? What proof do you have that your arm is yours besides the fact that it's attached to you?!" Said Ashton, clearly worked up.

The soldier kept his hand outreached. Whilst the other held his gun tightly, bringing the stock closer to his shoulder. Ashton calmed down a bit and took a closer look at his situation. Strange outsider walks into town, intimidates the public with oversized sword before causing trouble with the local policing force and getting arrested. Not a great first impression.

"Fine." Ashton says with a small smile. "It's all yours."

He takes the sword from across his shoulders places it point down on the ground and closed his eyes. The two soldiers paused for a moment and looked at each other, as if to say,

'What's he doing?'

Neither the less, the guard reached out to take a hold of the handle. Ashton opened his eyes, gave his discrete smile once again, and then released it from his hand. The soldier thanked him for cooperation, pulled the sword slightly towards him and then dropped the sword due to its immense weight as it slammed onto the floor in front of him. The dust cloud this kicked up slowly settled revealing the soldiers' shocked expressions and Ashton's smug look on his face.

"So if I have something to cover the blade, can I have it back?" Ashton asked.

The soldier who dropped the blade placed his gun around his back, on its shoulder sling. He squatted down, grabbing the handle with both hands, and tried with all his strength to lift the sword from the ground. The soldier continued straining from his efforts whilst the other, who had remained quiet until now stepped forward.

"Yeah, urrmm... If you get a sheath for it, or whatever to cover it up, there shouldn't be a problem. But are you just gonna leave it here?"

Ashton looked down at the straining soldier and then back up at the soldier who asked the question.

"Yeah, I don't think it's going anywhere."

Upon hearing this, the soldier trying to lift Starburn started growling in his efforts. This succeeded in only turning his face bright red.

In the Clave family castle, in the sparing courtyard. The three warriors charged with bringing Ashton back, Markus, Kato and Nile, were training together before their journey. Markus drove his lance towards Kato, who block it firmly with her shield without budging. Nile jumped above the two and threw his trident straight down at them. They both jumped backwards to dodge, and as the trident stabbed into the floor Nile appeared with a foot over the head of his weapon. Which would've forced its three sharp prongs deep, had he have hit his target. Quickly drawing it from the ground, Nile then lunged at Markus, who looked to be off balance due to his over sized weapon. However, Markus saw the attack coming. The size of his lance made no odds. He raised his weapon and planted his right foot back before thrusting and deflecting Nile's attack. Kato took this opportunity to attack Nile. Her shield is a flat, round and had a Viking like design with a large boss in the centre. The boss rose a few inches away from the shield plate, revealing a series of metal ball bearings. The lowest one extended straight down and out from the boss, suspended from a thin wire.

The boss suddenly began spinning, and swung the ball around by the wire, which made a loud noise like a lawnmower as it cut the air. She cut deep into the ground, despite it being done by a smooth ball, and she swung her shield arm at Nile. Alerted by the sudden blaring noise, Nile somehow disappeared and re-appeared the other side of his weapon. He took a step back before both Nile and Markus Aimed at Kato for a combined strike. Yet at the moment of impact and Kato's shield didn't move an inch. Shocked by this, Markus and Nile jumped back to create some space. They both noticed how the ball which you could only hear before was held stationary in the air on its thin wire which was almost parallel to the ground. The movement then immediately carried on as she held her shield in front of her and waited for the next move. Nile turned to attack Markus again, swinging his trident in long round movements. Markus stood at the ready holding his lance with the point primed at Nile. That when Nile changed from a swinging motion to a thrust, using a foot work fighting style that was very similar to Ashton's. Nile held his trident with one hand on the very end of its long handle.

If Markus knocked the attack away with his lance he wouldn't be able to attack, and Nile and his much lighter and manoeuvrable weapon could recover and counter before he could. So instead, Nile's attack seemed to be repelled by nothing. But this created an opening. Markus stepped towards Nile and thrust his lance at his chest. And as the lance drove forward, Nile's chest was pulled to the sharpened tip. At that moment Nile once again inexplicably vanished, puzzling Markus when the attack should've landed. And as Nile's trident fell through the air, he reappeared grabbing it with both hands and trusting the three prongs towards Markus' exposed left side. His attack was thwarted however, by a volley of ball bearings that were fired and immediately pulled back in by wires into Kato's shield. The ferocious training and getting to know you session, showed off the three warriors skills in a heavy storm of skill and steel.

A few people were watching the display from overlooking balconies. And on one, stud Zcholts. He was carefully studying and assessing the three warriors' abilities.

'Markus,' he thought to himself, '...the warrior who can deflect every attack. He hides it very well, but due to the Nile's strike, I was able to spot his semblance. He can force things towards or away from items that he is touching. So it's like he can make his lance attract attacks to make them glance off, or make his clothes repel attacks if dodging or defending isn't an option. Kato and her shield. Much more obvious, yet still extremely impressive. She can make her shield an immovable object in space. That's why she didn't move when her shield was struck by two simultaneous attacks. Her shield effectively became a fact, for a brief period of time. But how long can it remain in that state? And a down side to the ability is that she can't move the shield either when it's in that state. Having said that, is it only her shield she can do that to, or could she do it to other items as well?'

His eyes then focused on the sleek and sharp movements of Nile.

'His ability I'm still a little hazy on. The way he can avoid any attack as he pleases by apparently disappearing. I'm not convinced it's as straight forward as that though. Where warriors in the past have had the ability to leave after images of themselves whilst avoiding damage, this seems to differ in two respects. The first being that there is no after image. The second is that those people could move meters away, and they took all items they were touching with them.'

"It's item unison." Said a figure next to Zcholts.

Zcholts turned to see the source of the voice. Next to him stood a woman who held a long bladed battle axe, with both hands on end of its long handle as it stood on the flat head of its blade, just in front of her. Zcholts sighed and turned again to watch the sparing warriors.

"What makes you say that, Kate?" He asked the sneaky arrival.

She smiled, "He makes sure that his trident is clear of attacks before vanishing. If it was hit, he would have to reappear wherever the blade ended up. That and he has at least one hand on his weapon at all times. I think he needs to be in contact with it or he can't fuse into it. But when he does fuse with it, he can come out of it anywhere around it as long as he is in contact with it."

Zcholts thought on it for a moment and crossed his arms.

"That does make sense. That ability and his fighting style that isn't too far from Ashton's. He will be a very difficult challenge for Ashton. But what I wonder, is if he can do that with other people, effectively dragging them into his trident?"

Kate leaned the handle of her weapon against the balcony railing, and placed her hand on top of the railing.

"If that's true, that could be why he was picked for this mission. He could drag Ashton into his weapon for transportation." She said. "I take it you worked out the other two?"

Zcholts leaned forward and placed his forearms on the railing next to Kate's hands.

"I have. Do you think that it'll be enough information for him?" Asked Zcholts.

"He's a smart boy," answered Kate, "...he can work out his own strategy for how to deal with them. He is our son, after all."

She softly placed her hand on top off Zcholts' head and gently started stroking it.

"You ready? Remember to make it into a single, coherent message." Zcholts nodded his head and closed his eyes.

She closed her eyes as well.

"He's within range." She said "Sending message in 3-2-1- sending!"

Zcholts' face strained from discomfort for a few seconds before relaxing.

"It'll take a few minutes to reach him. But he is stationary right now so it shouldn't be too long."

Zcholts opened his eyes.

"He will make the most of the information, we know that much. I just hope that he isn't in too much trouble already after three days." He worried.

Back in Atlas. Ashton was inside a convenience store, holding a carrying basket with a few items in it. He reached towards an item on a shelf, and paused for a moment.

"...AAACCCHHOOOOOOOWWWWW!" Ashton loudly sneezed causing everyone else in the store to stop for a moment and give him a brief look, whilst a faint voice in the background said

"Bless you!"

Ashton slowly opened his eyes.

'Thanks mom." He thought to himself. 'Message received.'

He then walked over to the checkout counter and paid for his items with the money he was given when he helped Cleat with the bandits. A good thing to. Before then he had absolutely no money at all. The status of being from the main household meant that he never needed money. He would usually just be supplied anything he needed so that he could concentrate on learning battle tactics or fighting styles. He placed most the items in his backpack and placed the rest into a carrying bag. He walked out of the convenience store and smiled thankfully, that it was within 100 meters of the central plaza.

Ashton walked back towards the plaza, which had a small crowd gathered around something they were finding quite entertaining. A team of 4 soldiers were gathered around the blades handle. Each one of them red faced and straining from the sheer weight of the sword. Ashton walked up to them.

"Hey! You guys are getting better! It's just about 3 millimetres off the floor now." Ashton said with an honest smile on his face.

The soldiers gave up, falling backwards and sitting on the floor, they all were taking deep panting breaths and trying to stop their heads from pounding with pressure. Ashton placed the carrier bag by the sword, reached inside it and pulled out a large black sheet. He unfolded the sheet and placed it on the ground next to the side of Starburn's blade. The soldiers and onlookers in the crowd looked on in shock as Ashton grabbed the sword, effortlessly lift it, place it on top of the sheet and start rolling and wrapping it along the length of the sheet. He then tied pieces of rope around it at three places down the blade to ensure it remained covered. He lifted the sword, placing it back across his shoulders, and turned to face the soldiers.

"Is this acceptable?" Asked Ashton.

The exhausted soldiers just nodded to reply.

"Now then. Where can I go training?" Ashton asked himself.

"He got it." Said Kate. "He's already in Atlas. If nothing else it will take some time before he is found." She said confidently.

"I wouldn't be so sure." Said Zcholts.

"What makes you says that?" Asked Kate.

Zcholts pointed into the courtyard as an elder entered walked towards the sparing fighters. Upon spotting him, the warriors ceased their actions and turned to face him with one knee on the floor.

"We have allowed the visit of one man to our castle from the outside to provide you with intelligence on Ashton and his whereabouts. He is someone who we, as a people ready for war, will use in the time of war in order to work effectively with other military powers. So be sure to show your respect and ensure you represent the Clave family well. Understood?"

The three answered in unison with, "Sir!"

The elder turned to the doorway where he had come from and gave a small gesture with his hand. And in walked a slim man wearing a white suit with a grey waistcoat and red tie, as well as a single white glove on his right hand. As he walked into the courtyard, he held himself with immaculate posture. Shoulders back, chest forward, hands clasped behind his back and with a serious expression on his face as he scanned his surroundings.

Zcholts looked at him and said, "General James Ironwood. Commander and chief of the army and principal of the hunter academy, in Atlas."

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**A/N: Hey again,**

**Well Ashton has something to look forward to in the next couple of chapters, and so do you if you've been enjoying the story so far. As with all stories, they have a slow start before the story really pics up. Well the time is near. Hold on to your hat, the pace is picking up. :) **


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hey all,**

**Sorry for the longer than anticipated break between chapter releases, but hopefully, I'll be getting back on track for regular releases from now on. I'm hoping my description of Ironwood and how I've written him down as behaving is befitting the character in the eyes of my readers. I have to admit that I spent extra care on him, due to him not being an OC character. All the same, I hope you enjoy my new chapter.**

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The general studied the courtyard as he walked towards the three warriors, who were stood in a line, at attention. Ironwood stood opposite to the three warriors next to the elder.

"I've been briefed on the situation. You want to retrieve your man who has gone rogue. And you're the ones selected for this mission. I have been enrolled to assist you in tracking your target. Nothing happens in this kingdom without me hearing about it."

The elder spoke up. "Four days ago, a man fitting the targets description reportedly assisted in the arrest of a large group of bandits in Cleat. It was the general's soldiers that were moved in afterwards, which is how we received this information and how we know that he's no longer there. However, according to the soldiers there, the target appeared to be travelling in a south-westerly direction."

Ironwood stepped forward. "By now, he should have reached the Atlas capital. We have transportation ready and waiting to take you there. However, you are under no circumstances to engage him in the city. I absolutely will not tolerate damage to the city or injury to its citizens. Is that understood?" Ironwood said in a stern voice.

The warriors didn't hesitate in answering, "Yes, sir!"

"I'm glad to hear that. Now what kind of communication do you use?" Asked the general.

The elder answered, "We are aware of scrolls and other such technologies for communication. We are also aware of several situations in the past where such systems have been breached, leading to the failure of keeping mission details secret."

The general turned to look at the elder. "Then how do you coordinate attacks?"

"We use a series of subtle hand movements and body positions when performing in a team, and so we always make sure to be visible to our teammates. That is the system that they were just demonstrating." Spoke the elder.

The general smiled. "During all that sparring you were all having a conversation? Impressive, but, in that case, the target is also familiar with that system. And how do you relay information across larger distances, like giving and receiving orders?"

At this point Markus spoke up. "Excuse me general. But we do need to keep some secrets, don't we?"

The elder raised his hand, signalling for Markus to stop his argument.

"Now now, Markus, we didn't just decide to bring in the general for the sake of this mission. He and his academy are going to join us as an outer facility. One day, we may screen potential young warriors to join in our cause, preparing for the war to come." The elder lowered his hand.

"In regards to how we'll avoid our target from spotting our messages to each other is by surrounding him. As any three on one fight scenario should be set up if the team of three are serious about succeeding. That way he can't see all of us at once." Said Kato, to answer the general's first question.

"As for long distance communication…" began the Elder, "We have a group of the family dedicated to using their aura to achieve this. It is based on the same premise as the glyphs some warriors use. An imprint of the user's aura is left in the mind of the person or persons they intended to communicate with. However, it's not communication in the conventional sense."

The general had a look of surprise and intrigue, as the elder continued his explanation.

"The mental images are transmitted from transmitter to receiver. This can be painful for the transmitter, but the receiver will just experience light headedness if that. More commonly, the receiver simply sneezes."

"That is quite amazing!" Exclaimed the general, in dis-belief "I can see the future partnership between the Clave castle and the Atlas academy being quite beneficial to us all. Creating an elite academy, like Foresight."

"Excuse me sir," spoke Markus. "What is Foresight?"

The general gave a knowing smile, "A complex, not to dissimilar to this one. Except that it's an invite only institute, unlike an academy. And the chances of applicants successfully passing its exams and still being in one piece, is 12% on average."

Hearing this intrigued and astounded the young warriors. The average hunter academy has around 85% of attendees pass and become fully fledged huntsmen. That's what the general was getting out of this. The potential of turning his academy into Atlas' own version of Foresight, with the training methods and technical trials of the Clave family.

"So…" The elder interjected "Unless anyone else has anymore questions for our guest, I will show him to where he will be staying until tomorrow morning. Your mission will begin at 8:00am tomorrow morning. You have tonight to finish preparations."

The three warriors once again spoke in unison, "Sir!" as the Elder and general took there leave from the courtyard.

In the outskirts of Atlas, Ashton was in the clearing of a wood. Around him, Ursa had gathered in the hope of some easy prey. Ashton was stood over a dark blue glyph, with his revolver focused at his targets. One by one, he mowed them down with well placed shots.

'I'll have to thank Irene for giving me some lessons in glyphs. I studied them a bit in training but could never make them last too long. Using my aura in a glyph like this, I can continuously supply the glyph with aura. Now then, the next test.'

He walked out of the glyph. Still shooting down the Ursa, with weighted boots so he wouldn't be overly affected by the recoil, Ashton started counting away seconds. Some Beowolves had decided to join in as well, as he stopped shooting for a quick reload. With one eye on the glyph, he continued shooting the Grimm until the glyph faded away.

"Eighty-four seconds, so without a fresh source of my aura, it only lasts a minute and twenty-four seconds of effectiveness. Huh... I wonder if...'

Ashton's thoughts were interrupted by a Beowolf which stood above him and swung its claw at him while his attention was on the glyph behind him. But Ashton was paying attention. He ducked to dodge the attack, grabbed the arm as it passed over the head, and in a judo style counter, threw the beast towards where the glyph was. As the Grimm landed, the glyph shone back to life.

'So if I add a little of my aura to something, it will re-activate the glyph if it enters its effective area.'

Ashton smiled at what he had learned, and restarted counting.

Now finished with his training, Ashton made his way back into Atlas. By then the night's darkness had set in, but the town was still alive with night time activities. On his way through the gateway into the main town, he noticed the amount of soldiers on security was higher than before. But what changed? He glanced over his shoulder as he walked. The wrap covering Starburn was still on and he wasn't acting any different to anyone else on the street. In fact, there was a group of local academy students with their weapons making more of a scene than him. There were guards all around the place, but the group's loud argument was attracting none of the attention. Ashton discreetly changed where he was heading, walking down a narrow back ally street. A Street this narrow and plain with no doors would make it impossible for the soldiers to think they were being subtle. Ashton kept his attention alert, and listened out for the sounds of foots steps that would be sure to echo in this street. To his surprise, no one followed him.

'But why follow me in the first place if you're only going to give up?' He thought to himself.

His face was illuminated by the street lamp that he was entering. He paused for a moment. There was a figure beneath the light, leaning against the lamppost, and there were more on the rooftops over his head. Ashton continued to walk towards the figure beneath the light and as he came closer it came into focus. It was one of the academy students that were making a scene. A young man with armoured forearms and solid metal knee high boots, which were articulated around the ankle. He was smiling straight at Ashton. The figures came down from the rooftops landing behind Ashton, but the darkness still made it impossible to see them for sure. They were clearly aiming to corner him in the street.

"We are team NKTL (Nocturnal) and we've been given the mission to apprehend you. My name is Nickel, team leader."

At this stage he started walking slowly towards Ashton and upon closer inspection Ashton saw that Nickel had pointed ears which were orange and furry like those of a fox. At that moment, the metallic click of the guns slide drawing back alerted Ashton. He positioned Starburn vertically down his back to protect him from any shots fired. But the shot wasn't meant for him, instead the lone street light shattered. Shrouded in darkness Ashton darted over to the street wall eliminating one direction he could be attacked from.

'A set of animal ears means that this 'Nickel' guy is a Faunus, and with better night vision than humans, it makes them the dominant species in darkness.' Ashton thought to himself. 'And going by the name of their team, they've all probably got abilities that help them in low visibility fighting.'

Ashton gritted his teeth. This is something he had never trained for before. Two loud metallic sounds of weapons being drawn lit the back street in sound and filled the air with heavy tension, which was quickly shattered. A flurry of attacks slashed at Ashton from the direction of Nickel. Ashton swung his sword in the hopes of catching a hit, but the elusive target seemed to easily evade to attack. A chuckle came from one of the other team members.

"This is the 'warrior' we had to be careful retrieving? What a joke!" Spoke a cocky female voice.

'If she saw that then she must be a Faunus too.' Ashton thought, as he held his sword in front of him in the hopes of catching some of the next attack.

Another attack rushed Ashton, and every blow seemed to hit Ashton's body and not his sword. Furthermore, the blows were hitting different parts of his body and in a different order then before. His Aura shielding his body from harm, but it wouldn't last forever.

'Judging by the pressure of the attacks, I'd say that I'm being hit by two blades. That explains the sounds from a moment ago. No matter…' He thought. 'My eyes have nearly adjusted to the dark. Not entirely. But it should be enough to fight back.'

And almost on cue, a bright flash of extreme light filled the street. For a moment, it seemed as though daylight had flooded the world, before plunging it back into darkness.

A raspy voice said, "Don't think that we will let you get used to the darkness. Each time your eyes start to adjust, I'll blind them!"

Blind or not, Ashton was grateful for the moment of illumination that he was given. It was a lot more helpful than this team was meaning to be, by allowing Ashton to examine his enemies, even if it was a brief second. The attacks were indeed coming from Nickel, as he was using two blades that looked as though they were stowed in his forearm's armour. The source of the light was the palm of this unnamed raspy voiced young man, which meant it was his semblance, and finally, the fact that all of the team member's eyes were shut. They knew the flash was coming.

'I've gotta come up with something, and quickly!' Ashton yelled at himself in his head.

His brain storming was interrupted, however, by the sound of a wire cutting the air and metal cracking into the stone brickwork of the street wall. Another flurry of slashes struck Ashton, once again from the direction of Nickel and all of them body blows and in a different order from the previous two attacks. Meanwhile, the sound of more wires and bricks smashing continued in the background. Ashton tried to swing at Nickel again, but this time his attack hit something. But it wasn't his attacker.

Another bright flash revealed the truth of the matter. Ashton was now surrounded by a web of steel cables suspended by kunai knives thrown by a smirking girl, which is what stopped the broad sword swing. The cables did leave a clear view between Ashton and Nickel though. What was even odder was how Nickel didn't seem to have moved from his original position. In fact he was still stood where he introduced himself.

'I won't try to understand that yet...' He thought to himself. 'I have to find a way to stop getting blinded first!'

"The fact that all your eyes are closed before the flash... are you all Faunus? All your eyes are closed before you have the chance to be blinded! This means that you either planned the time intervals between flashes or you're all being given a signal to close your eyes!" Ashton shouted.

The smirking girl laughed. "But which one is it? I'm not gonna tell you. Hahahaha!"

She threw a few more kunai suspending more cables.

"Well I'm sure you're a Faunus. How else could you be throwing knives and not hitting the cables you've already put up." Said Ashton with a cocky tone.

"Stop talking to him, Lexy! You're just broadcasting your position with your noise!" Yelled the raspy voiced foe.

"And what do you call what you're doing, Kyte?!" Lexy yelled back in reply.

They both let out a growl as another flash of light went off. And Ashton was again struck by multiple blows. A team usually consisted of four members, which meant there was one foe yet to reveal himself. Ashton used the split second of light to look specifically for this final team member to no avail. What he did see was a higher amount of wires above his head.

'If the jobs of the wires are still to keep me from moving, why do they want me to not go up?' He thought for a few seconds. 'It must be that the final team member is back on the roof tops and doing something that makes him or her vulnerable. Wait a second! We're in the middle of a city at night. Sure they took out one lamppost, but what about other sources of light? Not even the sky is providing any light, and stars were out.'

Ashton drew his gun and aimed it at the spot where Nickel was standing.

'Time for my first move.'

He weighed himself down and squeezed the trigger, releasing a bright white muzzle flash and firing a round in the direction of Nickel. The bullet ricocheted a few times before imbedding itself in the floor. Ashton smiled happy with the results of his test. A two footed clang of metal on the ground far to the right of Nickel told Ashton that his attack had been dodged.

"What the hell was that?!" Lexy yelled in surprise. "There was nothing said about this guy using a gun!"

The sound of Nickel's armour clanging meant he was on the move. But he actually returned to his previous position.

'Ok. Time for my second move, I'm sick of this darkness.' Ashton thought to himself as he placed his sword; handle up and at a steep angle across his body.

He aimed his gun down the length of his sword's edge and fired. The round rolled the curve of the blade perfectly and the spin of the bullet built up enough friction the set the great blade alight, with its cloth wrapping also caught on fire, turning his sword into a giant flaming torch. Lexy raised her hand which activated a small green portal in the palm of her hand, from which fired several kunai. Ashton shielded himself by deflecting them with the broad side of his sword and stepping into a large enough space amongst the cables, started to swing and spin the blade with the look of a true fire dancer.

Next, Lexy and Kyte both fired a volley of kunai and bullets into the dome of fire that Ashton was creating. They both waited primed for a counter attack, until the formerly perfect dome started to lose its shape. It was getting flatter and flatter until they realized,

"It's just the wrap from his sword!" Yelled Lexy in a surprised tone.

"Well where could he have gone?!" Shouted Nickel as he ran up to the burning pile, sticking one blade into the cloth and moving it to check the floor. "The floor is fine? Then where is h... *Cough cough*" Nickel chocked on smoke from the fire.

"Wait a sec... What if he used the smoke for cover and jumped straight up?!" Asked Lexy.

Up on the rooftop, Ashton landed squatting down in a wide stance with his right hand holding Starburn across his shoulders and his left hand on the floor. He raised his head to see the fourth member of team NKTL sat in a meditative pose on a black glyph. Ashton then realized how the only source of nearby light was the lamppost which they shot.

'I've read about this semblance.' Ashton thought to himself. 'This guy can magnify any semblance, dust effect or glyph. All he needs to do is supply whatever he's trying to magnify with his aura. In this case, he has extended the range of this glyph which cuts off the outside world with a barrier. But, it seems like he can't maintain enhancing this ability without turning off his own senses. That's why they didn't want me up here.'

Ashton then darted across the rooftop, took a large step forward and, using Starburn as a baseball bat, swung at his target. Slamming the blunt edge of the sword across the chest of his target and sending him shooting off, into the wall of the barrier, shattering it like glass. At that moment the darkness over the world was lifted.

Ashton looked up at the stars and thought to himself, 'I'm glad to see you again. Now then. I owe the other three some payback.'

Ashton looked over to where the person he just hit landed, just as Lexy and Kyte ran over to see if he was ok.

"I'm impressed." Ashton said aloud. "You guys must have only had the information on me for a day and yet you came up with a very well thought out and nearly flawless plan. The only thing wrong with your plan was that your information didn't include the fact that I have a gun now."

Ashton turned on the spot, looking over his left shoulder to see Nickel attempting to sneak up on Ashton from behind. As soon as Ashton spotted him, he stopped and stood up properly with a small smile on his face.

"I thought you were talking to yourself." Said Nickel.

"Just like you guys thought, just because I couldn't see you all the time, you thought I couldn't get enough information to make a counterattack." Ashton retorted. "You guys had the makings of a great strategy. Blind me so I couldn't see where and when the next attack would hit, surround me in cables so I couldn't land a reliable counter and finally attack me at random intervals and location on my body to make me unable to touch the attacker. Who was clearly you by the way."

"So where did the plan go wrong?" Nickel asked, placing one hand behind his head.

Ashton walked along the edge of the roof and explained, "If you had a single solid powerful blow, instead of several scattered ones, you would've stood a better chance of knocking me out. I'm guessing that you didn't do that because you either overestimate me and didn't want to run the risk of me getting a hold of you, or you overestimate yourselves."

Nickel scrunched up his face as if to say, 'What does that mean?'

Ashton stopped walking when he reached the corner of the building's roof. He turned to see the puzzled look on Nickel's face.

"Your orders are to 'apprehend me'. So if you think that you have a technique strong enough to accidentally kill me, whoops, mission failed. Or you're not able to do it in a populated area in case of civilian casualties." Ashton explained.

Nickel smiled back.

"It's the first one." Nickel replied confidently.

Ashton smiled back. "This is a nice open piece of rooftop. Approximately 24x38 meters squared surface space and judging by the feel under foot, I'd say it's about 5 feet of re-enforced concrete before we get to the room below."

Ashton sat on the edge of the building with his legs dangling over the edge.

"Get your teammates up here. We've got 2 more hours before I absolutely have to get some rest. Big day tomorrow. But I'm interested in seeing this skill of yours which is strong enough to possibly kill me."

Back at the Clave family Castle, in James Ironwood's room. He stood facing the window, with the star light sky pouring light into the room. Ironwood held a scroll up to his ear.

"So they've made contact?" He said excitedly. "I see... Of course they didn't have a backup plan; they've never needed one... Well if nothing else, team NKTL will get a first hand lesson from a true Clave. And it gives them more chances to get the job done... No. Don't get involved unless you absolutely have to or see a un-miss able opportunity... Yes... Maintain a visual at a distance, and try and direct the public away from the area... I'll be making my way back with Ashton Clave's retrieval team tomorrow with an ETA of 14:45. Until then enjoy the learning experience... Ok. Goodnight."

Ironwood placed the scroll down on the table next to him, smiled at the star filled sky before closing the curtain and shutting out the star light.

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**A/N: So a bit of mystery surrounds Ironwood. And what's with this team NKTL trying to capture Ashton? I hope this wets your appetite for more action, 'cause more is on it's way. **

**Thanks for reading,**

**ManxMG**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Hey all,**

**As I wrote this chapter I tried to reconnect with the fact that Ashton is a young man, miles from home and still feels the same loneliness that anyone would during such an adventure. Despite a persons abilities and experience, there is nothing wrong with feeling home sick. Just like no matter where that person goes, their parents will always be thinking of them and wishing them well. I hope you enjoy the chapter.**

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A clash of blades ring as Ashton's sword and Kyte's sai are struck together. Kyte's sai were crossed with Ashton's blade caught in the attempt of a downwards vertical slice. The warriors dashed away from each other to regain their fighting stances. As Ashton regained his posture, Lexy released a storm of kunai with wires from both hands at Ashton's right. He lunged forward to evade them, but Nickel now stands in front of him with both fists at hip level. He then stepped forward with his left leg slamming on the floor, grunted as he thrusted both fists forward. A black energy, which looked almost like his shadow or a ghost, shot across the roof and delivered the blow to Ashton's sternum. Ashton fell back into the kunai wires, which wrapped around him, tangling up his arms and legs. Now, with Ashton unable to move, Nickel sprinted to a point blank range with his left leg leading, left arm pointed forward and right arm charged and ready to strike with the bade from his forearm extended. Before the blow landed the fourth team member, whose name turned out to be Teal, suddenly appeared behind Nickel and placed a hand on his back. Nickels body was engulfed in a light blue shine as the strike made contact.

All of Ashton's air escaped from his body, and out from his back, a huge black image of Nickel's blade tipped fist emerged. The attack was powerful enough the break all the wire cables holding Ashton as he shot off the roof and into the wall of an adjacent building, making a crater as he made his impact. The three team members gathered around Nickel, panting to regain their breath.

"That's the most powerful we've ever made your shadow strike, Nickel!" Gasped the exhausted Teal.

"Can you see his aura level from the scroll you gave him?" Asked Lexy, wiping sweat off her forehead.

Nickel reached behind his back and pulled out his scroll. Looking at the screen, his eyes widened before he placed his hands on his knees.

"God damn it! He's only just in the yellow!" He yelled out of his usual collected character.

The other three members moaned as they slumped down and sat on the floor. From the crater the grapple blade from Starburn fired out, pierced the floor in front of the team, and the rubble started to move. The rubble finally gave as Ashton fired out and landed on the floor where his grapple had imbedded itself.

"Now that one nearly had me!" His said to the team as he brushed away dust from his clothes and wearing a smile.

He look at them panting, sprawled out on the floor.

"How can you carry on going like this?" Wheezed Kyte.

"Yeah, there's gotta be something you're doing that we're not." Added Teal.

Ashton sat on the floor with them and crossed hit legs.

"Well it's defence with aura." Ashton explained.

"We all do that!" Lexy said in an aggravated tone. "What makes your technique any different?!"

Ashton laid down Starburn and crossed his arms, taking a moment to contemplate the proper way to phrase it.

"I suppose... The way I do it is like Nickel's last attack. You all saw it. The first attack was board with aura, which you could see 'cause his entire body was shot in the attack. Probably because he was still trying to use his aura defensively whiles he attacked. Then when he attacked the second time, his aura was focused into a single fist."

The team recalled both attacks and Nickel replied. "I get it, but how does that relate to defence?"

Ashton placed a hand flat on the floor and the team looked with intrigue. A loud cracking sound came from the floor under his hand, and he then lifted it to show what had happened. A crack appeared on the floor where his ring finger had been placed.

"If I use my aura to defend in the same way as Nickel attacks, an attack won't be merely weakened, the amount of damage can be brought to zero if the defensive aura matches the attacking aura. To do that technique to the whole body is nearly impossible unless you already have masses of aura. So to concentrate on the point of impact is a far more reliable technique. The only risk is if that attack is a faint and somewhere else on the body is the target."

At the end of Ashton's lesson which he was teaching team NKTL, an alarm on the scroll in Ashton's pocket went off signalling that he has spent all the time he had to spare, and now really needed to get some rest before the next day's challenge.

"I'm afraid that's all I can show you tonight." Ashton said while taking out the device and turning off its alarm.

The team sat and watched with mixed emotion as Ashton reached into his back pack, which had been tossed to one side prior to the training, and pulled out a spare cloth wrap for Starburn. Ashton finished wrapping his sword and walked over to Nickel, his arm extended and holding the scroll which he had given Ashton during the training.

"Keep it." Said Nickel as he picked himself up and got on his feet. "You can hang onto that in return for the lesson."

He smiled honestly and Ashton looked, at firsts, surprised and then a grateful smile overcame his face. He tucked it back into his pocket and looked at the Atlas team, who had started to pick themselves off the floor as well.

"If I'm still around after tomorrow, let's have another sparring match. And this time I'll use my semblance as well." He said his farewells to the team, and jumped from the roof to the streets below.

Nickel pulled his scroll from his pocket and placed against the side of his face to use as a phone.

"Hi. He just left..."

"He kept on talking about something that was happening tomorrow, but never said what it was that he was taking an early night for..."

"I'd say he knows about the General's travel arrangements and the incoming team..."

"I feel like we learned a lot. How about you?"

"Learn as much as we did?..."

"I see... I'm guessing that we'll see how good your strategy works tomorrow..."

"Yeah we're bushed. Gonna head home..."

"Keep watch if you want but we've been the ones taking the beatings..."

"We'll see you tomorrow then..."

"Rodger that. NKTL out."

In a room in a tavern inn, Ashton is laying on the single bed of a small room. He looks over to a small bedside table with Starburn leaning against the wall next to it. His head was going through the next day's possible outcomes and reviewing the information that his parents had sent him. The future of how the Clave family raises the next generations comes down to tomorrow. He hasn't given away any Clave family secrets so the reprimand would still be minimal at this stage. But this short taste of the outside world was the first of many experiences that Ashton wanted to enjoy. His thoughts of the world that he has still yet to see kept his mind dizzy with possibilities, until the embrace of sleep took over him. Outside the inn, on an adjacent building, a figure in darkness kept its eyes on the window of Ashton's room. It's silhouette revealed by the moon's beams of light, until a cloud blotted out the silver gleam and immersing the figure in the darkness of the sky's shadows.

Dawn broke and Ashton was sat on his bed with his backpack lying next to him. He opened it, reached in and pulled out a package which he had been carrying since he left. When he set off for his journey he didn't bring food, money or any keepsakes. But he did bring a well used toothbrush and this package. The package was large, covered in brown paper and had a brass pin with a depiction of a shooting star holding it closed. He gripped the pin with his thumb and index finger and unbuttoned it from the package and the paper unfolded revealing some clothes. This was the outfit he was given by his mother and father as a gift for passing all the trials and tests that the Clave family had to offer. He put on an orange shirt which mimicked the colour of Starburn's edge as it heated. Pulled on the black trousers and the long sleeved, tight fitting, black jacket with an orange lining to the collar, the sleeves of which he rolled half way up his forearm. He slipped the orange belt on the trousers and tied the steel toe capped boots on as well. The toe, laces and soul of the boots were orange as well, and the rest of the boot was the familiar black. He then added the holster for Moonshine to his right leg and stared to clip on pieces of amour. Orange leather pads with red trim were strapped to both forearms. And an orange strap of leather clicked in front of his chest, which went under both arms and up to the left shoulder, securing a metal shoulder pad with matching colours to the arm pads.

To Ashton's surprise, there was a pair of fingerless gloves also in the backpack which fell out as the bag fell off the bed and onto the floor. He looked at the pair of gloves in surprise because he couldn't recall packing them. Tucked inside one of the gloves was a piece of paper that containing a brief note. He started to read it to himself.

'Ashton,

I know I probably won't be able to stop you from leaving. But if I can teach you one last lesson before you go, I think I'll feel like I've done my job as a parent. Just a reminder. Remember your weaknesses not as a reason to give up a fight, but as a way of learning the most about yourself and winning the battles in life. I think it will be a long time before we see each other again, so I've gotten you a going away present.

These gloves are made for you and Starburn in mind. Custom designed from the Schnee dust company, so you know they're good. They're your favourite colour combination, black with orange stripes from the knuckles to the Velcro wrist straps. Those orange stripes aren't just for show either. That's where the gloves have been infused with dust. It's designed to releases a massive amount of heat from the palms. I thought you could use it in a pinch to heat up Starburn immediately, without needing to swing it. It can only be used four times per glove, and you can keep track of how many goes of it you have left by looking at the stripes on the back. If the stripe is black, that means it's depleted. So don't be using them to light campfires or things like that.

Also, your mother would kill me if I didn't tell you how much we both love you, so that's that done. As for the inevitable team that will be sent to retrieve you, give them a good show as to what got you through the trial first time.

Lastly. You're taking the first big leaps for the Clave family by venturing out to see the world. So make sure you learn as much as you like to teach. When you decide to come back home, you can tell the elders yourself about all the reasons the family needs to extend past these walls.

I know it doesn't need to be said, but I'm proud and privileged to have you as my son.

Sincerely, Dad'

Ashton's eyes were slightly tearing, as he folded up the letter and placed it back in the bag. He pulled on the gloves and adjusted the straps for a perfect fit.

'They're great. Thanks dad.' He thought to himself.

The last item for Ashton to put on was the brass pin. He decided to pin it to the sleeve of his left arm, just below the shoulder plate. He then grabbed Starburn, which was still in its wrapping, holding it with the blade end out behind him. The normal place across the shoulders would have to wait, until he was outside and didn't have to worry about getting through doors and hallways. He took a few steps outside, tilted his head back with his eyes closed and a smile on his face, and drank in the morning sunshine. He took a big breath in and let out the breath as he brought his head back to level and opened his eyes. He then started making his way to the boarder of Atlas that the retrieval team was most likely to approach from. He was going to make his preparations.

Equally so, back at the Clave castle, the team along with Ironwood made their way across the floor of the top of one of the castle's towers. A space was open for the helicopter which was making its landing.

"This is our direct ride to Atlas." Shouted the general, trying to get his voice to carry passed the noise coming from the engines.

"Atlas? Didn't you say that the target was last sighted in Cleat?" Asked Kato.

"I got word this morning that he was spotted close to the city. So that's where we're going." Replied the general.

The team got in and each took a seat. Direct or not. It would take them a while to get to Atlas, so they made themselves comfortable in the back as the general got into the cockpit with the pilot. The helicopter pulled away from the ground and turned to start making its way to its destination. As it disappeared into the distance, a mother and father watched it vanish.

Behind the two parents, an elder approached them.

"I trust you've sent him a message to warn him of his pursuers?" Asked the grey bearded man.

"Of course we did. It's what family does. We look after each other." Answered Zcholts.

The old man stood up to the window in time to see the chopper before it fully disappeared from sight.

"You've raised him well. I'm sure he will be the first of many pioneering Clave family members."

Zcholts chuckled at the elder's statement.

"Only because you raised me to encourage people to follow their own heart."

The old man laughed.

"Actually, I was talking to your wife."

The elder and Kate both started laughing as the cornel let out a groan from his father's mocking.

"Did you make sure he got the gloves we had made for him?" Kate asked Zcholts.

"He got them. Before he weighed me down, I slipped them into his bag as I put my arm around him." Zcholts replied.

At this point the elder turned to leave.

"I trust that if you are to hear anything you'll let me know?" Asked Zcholts to the elder.

"Of course. I'm his grandfather and you're his father." He replied. "And I trust that you'll do the same."

The elder left the parents to wish their son well, and carry on with the days duties that lay before them all.

* * *

**A/N: So next up is the elite 3 man team with their cross-hairs on Ashton. I hope the next Chapter helps to excite you to read more as the fight scenes get more brutal and the challenge of different weapons and abilities start to make the fights more alive in your minds. **

**Thanks for reading,**

**ManxMG**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Hey all,**

**So we're here on the point which will tilt the future for Ashton and a few others. Can Ashton counter the collective experience and skill of his would be captures? No matter who wins, will there be a twist from Ironwood and whatever he's planning? I hope that you're all eager to find out, because here we go people! **

* * *

The helicopter jetted over the rugged mountainous terrain and woodlands, passing over Cleat in just after an hour. The team used this time to review the mission details before arrival. Nile, with the most battle experience, was dubbed the team leader and so started to read out the mission specs from a brown paper file.

"As we all know, our target is Ashton Clave. He passed the trial of blades and shades on his first attempt and has excelled in combat training with long swords, short swords, broad swords, spears, scythes, war hammers, maces, daggers and finally, hand to hand."

"Oh... Is that all." Markus said sarcastically.

"He only trained with his great executioner's blade, Starburn, for the six months leading to the naming ceremony after the trial." Continued Nile. "And from the skills he showed off at the ceremony, he was awarded the medal of executioner's mastery. And because of that achievement, he was awarded the rank of Major in the Clave army. However, his privileges and command associated with that rank have been suspended upon him leaving, until his courtroom hearing once he returns."

Kato let out a sigh of boredom.

"You lost me at, 'he was awarded'. Can't we just agree that the only things that we should be talking about are his weapon specs, semblance and fighting style?"

Markus nodded and simple said, "Agreed."

"Fine." Nile said as he turned over a few pages, skipping to the combat information page.

"It says here, that he forged his weapon with fire dust which he needs to swing his blade or clash it against objects to activate. When activated, its sharpened edge ignites allowing it to cut through items much easier through his targets. Additionally, it has a secondary blade on its hilt which is used as a grappling hook, with a recorded 80 meter range."

He turns to the next page.

"His semblance is what we've got to be wary off. Weight control of objects that he touches or he has secondary contact with. Such as items touched by his sword. He can make himself heavier or lighter too, which he uses to be able to run faster and jump higher or to carry more impact with downward attacks. And finally, his swordplay technique. He has been called the Clave families fire dancer for the way he uses large, circular movements with his body and sword. This keeps him in a defensive advantage by not allowing his enemies to attack without being open to countering."

"Atlas is within sight." Said the general, looking over his shoulder, towards the team.

"Last thing before we land." Said Nile. "This guy has been out here for over five days, and with his way of learning new ways to fight like new ways to walk, we can't just rely on the info in the file. Keep your eyes open and relay anything you pick up on with BPC (body posture communication). Keep verbal communication to an absolute minimum. And try and keep unpredictab..."

*CLANG*

Nile's speech was suddenly interrupted by the sound of something hitting the helicopter.

"What was that? Small arms fire?" Said the pilot as he checked his dials.

The helicopter then came to a sudden stop in midair. Throwing the team up against the internal cockpit door. Markus grabbed a hand rail and opened the chopper's sliding side door. Looking outside, he saw that the tail of the chopper hand a strange orange blade with a cable imbedded in it. He followed the cable, with his eyes, down to a clearing in the field below them. And at the end of this cable was a great executioner's blade, anchored to the floor.

"He's got us tethered!" He shouted.

Kato made her way to the open door and stuck her head out to see for herself.

"But he's not down there! Can you see him?!" She yelled.

"No!" Replied Markus.

Nile looked out of the window on the opposite side of the chopper scanning the ground below.

"He's not on this side either!" He informed the group.

Kato turned to look out the window with Nile, but stopped with a shocked expression on her face.

"Erm... Guys." She said timidly.

Both Markus and Nile looked at her. She had her eyes, and the index finger of her right hand, focused on the window next to Nile. They both looked out through the glass to see Ashton's face, upside down, on the outside of the chopper door. All their jaws dropped as they saw their smiling target clung to aircraft's shell. Ashton brought his head to the side and held a piece of paper that read,

'I think you found him!' With an arrow pointed at his face.

He then dropped that piece of paper, revealing the one behind it. That note read,

'Hold on tight!'

The chopper then started to tilt as he made the side he was on lighter, throwing the helicopter off balance. The team quickly shared a glance amongst each other, and held their weapons at the ready. The chopper flew out of control, as the open side was made heavier. Nile threw open the door to the cockpit and the other two braced for impact. Everyone's body jarred as the helicopter came to a sudden stop. Kato had stopped its decent mere feet from the ground, giving the pilot, general and Markus time to get off. And as soon as they were clear the chopper smashed into the floor, bursting into flames. Of to the side of the explosion, Nile's trident, Algiz, was sticking from the ground. Then Nile and Kato both reappeared, with one of Nile's hands on his trident and the other on Kato's shoulder.

She gasped for air after straining to hold the chopper in place, but still managed to say, "Thanks."

The three warriors then looked over to Starburn, as Ashton landed like a dandelion seed, gently next to it, still with a smile on his face.

"He's already pissing me off." Said Markus.

Ashton reeled in Starburn's cable, pulling the grapple blade from the wreckage, as the team spread out and surrounded him. All the warriors held still and focused. The atmosphere itself felt heavy as tensions rose. A secondary explosion went off and signalled the start of the battle. Markus used his semblance of attraction and repulsion it launch himself at Ashton with incredible speed, by replying the ground beneath his feet and the air at his back. Ashton went to sidestep to the right to avoid the attack, but was not permitted to move because of a barrage of ball bearings fired from Kato's shield from behind him. Nile also launched an attack by thrusting at Ashton's left, straight at him. Ashton raised Starburn with his left hand, ready to parry Nile's attack. But to the team's surprise, he also raised his right hand with his revolver and aimed it at Markus. He pulled the trigger and an immense blue light shone from the barrel as a bullet fired from the barrel aimed at his head. Markus, instinctively, used his semblance to attract the bullet down and towards his lance. The bullet was deflected, but Markus' eyes widened singling the other two to stop their attacks.

Nile managed to withdraw his attack without contact, and Kato stopped her barrage. Something was amiss with Markus' weapon. Ashton swung his sword at Markus, forcing him to drop his lance and retreat. As it hit the floor, the lance seemed to bury itself in the ground from an increase of weight. Ashton followed his sword swing's momentum, turning on the spot to glance at his opponent's positions, and stopped with one foot on the lance forcing it deeper in the ground with a quick weight boost.

"Not five minutes in and I've already disarmed one of you." Said Ashton arrogantly. "Although if I didn't have my gun, Moonshine, I suppose that skirmish would've ended differently."

The team stayed tight lipped, accept for Markus who was gritting his teeth in frustration.

"No talking? Well that's boring." Ashton continued, "I guess it's my turn anyway."

He holstered his gun and gripped Starburn with both hands. He started to aggressively spin the blade and the team watched as the edge's dark colour stared the glow.

Another attack of ball bearings was shot to attempt to halt his movements, but Ashton evaded by jumping into the air above Kato. He then increased the weight of his sword, bringing it straight down at Kato. Unmoving, she raises her shield which fires a single ball on a wire and she swings her arm, causing the wire to arch in Ashton's path. As he makes contact with the wire, it stops its movements.

'Kato's semblance to turn things into immovable objects is probably one of the best defensive abilities I've ever heard of or seen!' Ashton thought to himself, whilst smiling.

His attack was stopped dead, but Ashton still saw this as an opportunity to test the limits of Kato's semblance. He grabbed the wire to stop his fall, but he couldn't stay for long. Nile quickly dashed over to Kato, and placed one hand on her shield. Reality set back into the wire and Ashton started plummeting back to the ground, forcing him to quickly release the wire on his way down. however, Markus was below him with both arms outstretched and palms open above him.

Activating he semblance, Markus forced Ashton back up, to the falling wire. Ashton had no choice but to fire his grapple, and holding it he managed to retreat. However, the wire and Starburn touched in midair, but he was not affected by Nile's ability to draw people into objects.

"Skirmish number two and you guys are getting very impressive." Complimented Ashton. "But you're letting me learn too much. During that scuffle, I found out that the girl's shield can't be affected by semblances when it's in stasis and just like my ability, the older guy's semblance can only work as far as secondary contact." Ashton reeled in his sword. "I hope you do something outstanding. Otherwise this next go around could be the last one."

He held his sword across his shoulders. And then heard from behind him,

"You talk too much."

Markus was there in a flash. Without that lace holding him back he can really use his semblance for speed, by pushing off with one leg and forcing himself away from the ground and air on his back. Plus he cleverly hid in Ashton's blind spot as he pulled his sword in and placed it over his shoulder. Ashton turned to face him but was launched back towards Kato and Nile.

Kato jumped in the air above Ashton's path and released all of her ball bearings and wires around Ashton. She then used her semblance to freeze them in place around him, trapping him in the process. Next Nile threw his trident and fused with it as it flew towards Ashton's cage. The trident slipped between the wire bars and once inside, Nile reappeared, placed one hand on Ashton's arm, and said,

"Mission completed." With a smile.

Ashton and Starburn were both drawn into the trident before it continued to pass through the cage and skewer the floor outside. Kato released her semblance and returned to the floor, as Markus walked over to retrieve his weapon. Markus grabbed the handle, but the weapon stayed firmly in place.

"Damn it!" He groaned as he strained to raise it.

"Relax." Said Kato. "As soon as we get Nile's trident 100 meters away, the effects of the weight change will wear off. Plus can't you just make your semblance repel it from the floor?" She asked.

"Naa..." Replied Markus. "I've used too much aura in that last attack. It'll take me a while to work it back up again."

"Then we've got a problem." Said Nile.

Markus and Kato Beth looked over to see what was wrong.

"He must have used his semblance before he was captured, because I can't lift my trident."

Both Markus and Kato let out a groan of complaint.

"This guy's still pissing me of." Said Markus.

Ironwood walked up to the team.

"Well done. It looked like you guys were starting to run out of ideas, towards the end." Stated the general.

"Well we've got the next problem to worry about." Said Nile, giving the general a confused look on his face.

Ironwood looked at the weapon pinned to the floor as Markus grabbed the forked head of the trident, and Nile grabbed the long pole handle. Both the warriors then put their all into lifting the weapon, straining, but not succeeding.

"I see." Said Ironwood. "Well the city is approximately 2 kilometers southwest of here. If we all try, we might be able to lift it and get something underneath it to use as a sled. What do you think Nile?" Nile nodded his head in agreement.

"Let's see if there if a piece of metal from the helicopter which we could use." He replied.

Eventually Kato found a flat panel from the chopper's hull, which wasn't misshapen or under Ashton's weight control. Next all three of the team members, plus the general and the pilot huddled around the trident.

"Ok..." Said Nile. "On 3."

All of them grabbed a piece of the weapon and readied themselves to lift.

"1...2...3!"

All five lifter pulled at the weapon, and all five fell on their asses as the weapon rocketed into the air.

Confused, they just looked up as the trident span in the air.

"Nile... What's going on?" Asked Markus.

"He must still have weight control over an item, even if he's inside the item." Answered Nile.

"You're joking! How did you not know he could do that while trapped by your ability?!" Markus asked aggressively.

"How am I supposed to know?! It's the first time anyone has had him trapped in an item!" Nile barked back at him.

A look of concern swept over Kato's face.

"So, theoretically, he could make the weapon heavier again?" She asked.

"I suppose it's possible... Wait... Shit!" Said Nile as they all looked back up, and saw the trident whistling back to earth.

"Make sure you're not beneath it!" Shouted the general.

The trident struck the ground, piercing the metal panel the team were going to use as a sled to the floor.

"He's starting to annoy me too." Said Kato.

Nile crossed his arms, and starting thinking until he finally came up with a plan he wasn't happy with.

"We have to beat him into submission." They all just looked at him disbelief. He took one hand and started rubbing the top of his forehead.

"We have to fight him until his aura becomes exhausted, without using up all of mine. Then re-trap him so that what we can seal him in something, without him being able to affect its weight."

The other teammates were frustrated by this, but it couldn't be helped. Then who has aura left by the end of this fight will be the winner and the mission will be over.

"I recommend you return to a safe distance general." Suggested Nile as he walked over to the grounded trident.

He grabbed it with one hand before vanishing, and reappearing with Ashton, launching his former captive away. Ashton landed flat on his back with a thud, before sitting up and saying,

"Well. They always said at training, 'be one with your weapon'. *chuckle*"

"That's it... I hate him." Said Markus, in response to Ashton's joke.

Meanwhile Nile tried to free his weapon from the metal plate, but Ashton's weight control refused him from drawing it. Ashton got to his feet.

"So, that's two weapons out of commission now. One left." Stated Ashton.

And with that he aimed he revolver at Kato and fired off three blue rounds. She raised her shield and defended herself with her permanence semblance, which caused the rounds to ricochet off. Ashton paused a moment and smiled.

"Perfect." He said. "Your semblance has all the benefits of defending against my attacks without the risk. That guy with the trident has the ability to trap me in an object that I'm in contact with, so it limits the use of my semblance and the big guy who uses the lance can attack me without making direct contact."

He then holstered his gun.

"If it was possible, I'd offer a draw. But I don't suppose that's an option on the table. You all want to join the main household, and you all have the skills to warrant it. But if I return, it will be on my own terms."

He then raised his sword with his right hand, over his head, and placed his left hand on the blade. The orange stripe on the back of his left glove, from his index finger's knuckle, started to glow before fading black. And just like that, his great blade burst into flames. Ashton wasted no time to launch his next attack, quickly running and slashing across Markus' chest. He raised his arms to block, yet his aura was far from being ready to use his semblance again. He just had enough to avoid serious damage as he was fired away by the blow.

'He's on his last legs.' Ashton thought to himself, before turning to defend himself from Nile's attack.

Nile had retrieved a long pole, which he was using like a staff, from the helicopter's wreckage. Ashton started swinging his sword, in his fire dancing technique, to keep Nile at a distance. Nile was able to mimic this fighting style though, as it was a skill in his repertoire as well. The large swings they were taking seemed to overlap in each other's space, and yet never collided. Instead, they were a hell merry of near misses. Kato then shot all ball bearings from her shield, which started to spin. Ashton recalled this attack from the training imagine that his parents had sent him. He broke away from combat with Nile, jumping high above Kato, and shot his grapple down at her. She rose up her shield to defend and froze it in place. Ashton, however, didn't aim directly at her. Knowing that she was far more likely to defend then dodge, Ashton shot his grapple into the floor next to her. Now she was stuck. If she releases her shield from stasis, it will be tangled by the grapple and wire from Ashton's Starburn. Ashton landed off to the side of Kato's shield range, and turned to face the two remaining enemies.

Nile darted under Kato's shield and attempted to knock the grapple out from the shield's range with his stand-in weapon, only to find that the grapple hook, and now his pole, was super weighted. Upon seeing this, the two remaining warriors, gritted their teeth. It couldn't be helped. Nile had to withdraw from under the shield, and went to confront Ashton with hand to hand combat. Ashton stabbed his sword into the ground, pinning Kato in place with an extremely heavy wire resting across her shield, cables and ball bearings. If she returned it to normal she would be crushed by the weight. Nile was using the only card left in his hand, and Ashton knew it. Nile and Ashton ran at each other and started to dodge and weave a series of punches and kicks that were being thrown by one another. The brawl was an impressive and acrobatic display which tested the reaction time and coordination of both fighters. Until the loud crash of Kato hitting the floor under the weight of Ashton's wire, as she ran out of aura, distracted Nile for a split second. This allowed Ashton to score an open palm blow to Nile's chest. And under the weight of his shirt, Nile also met the floor.

"All three of you are now immobilized. Admit I've won." Ashton said standing over Nile, who was struggling to breath.

"No you haven't!" Yelled Markus aggressively from behind Ashton, as he grabbed Moonshine from Ashton's holster.

He used the entire aura he had recovered to quickly swipe Ashton's gun and put a few meters of distance between the two of them.

"Despite the cocky attitude, you're pretty worn out too! I think you're only one more attack away from being completely out of aura!" Markus pulled back the hammer and aimed at Ashton. "Well, How 'bout it?! Am I right?!" He screamed at Ashton as he pulled the trigger.

The gun fired a round which Ashton didn't even need to dodge. Instead the almighty recoil from the revolver launched the gun from Markus' hand, braking his thumb and smashing into his chest. Ashton sprinted over to him, as he lay winded on the floor, and placed a hand on his chest. But instead of weighing him down, Ashton placed a blue glyph over Markus to pin him down. Markus strained to look up to Ashton's face. He saw that in Ashton's hand, he held the communications device used by those outside the Clave family's mountainous home. On it were the words,

'Aura level read out.' And it was displaying that Ashton still had one third of his aura remaining.

"Sorry..." Said Ashton. "But your assessment of my aura level was off. You also lose your head too easily. Train up some more and you could become a Clave family member as well someday."

Hearing this drove Markus into a frenzy. He roared, screamed and struggled as hard as he could to get up from the floor. All to no avail. He only succeeded in using up so much aura, that he knocked himself out cold.

"Aww. Look at him. He's all tuckered out." Said Ashton as he placed his scroll back in his jacket pocket.

He then made his way over to Nile. "So, do you guys give up?" He asked.

Nile looked up at him with a disappointed look on his face. "Give up? More like, we got thrashed." He answered, admitting defeat.

"Great." Ashton eyes flashed as he dispelled his weight control from everything that he had affected.

A loud gasp and coughing could be heard from Kato, as the weight was lifted from her shield. Ashton held out his had to Nile, offering his help to get him on his feet. Nile looks at it for a moment, before clasping it and standing. The two of them then go over to help Kato, by untangling her shield and Starburn's wire cables. They sit her up and brought her back to consciousness with smelling salts.

Her eyes were blurry and, only seeing silhouettes.

"Did we won?" She asked, oxygen deprived.

Then Ashton came into focus, and she instinctively swung a punch at his face, which Nile caught. She looked at Nile, who just shuck his head.

"I see... Where's Markus?" She asked.

"The big guy? He's over... Was over there." Answered Ashton, pointing towards and empty space on the floor.

The three then looked over to where his weapon was embedded into the ground, and when they saw that it had been removed, they all knew that he had left them and the Clave army behind. The general approached them with his arms folded behind his back, and his posture prim and proper.

"Congratulations are in order, I suppose, young major." Said Ironwood. "My name is..."

Ashton interrupted. "General James Ironwood. I'm familiar with your record sir." Ashton stood up, turned to face the general and asked, "Are you also here to retrieve me for the Clave family?"

Ironwood smiled before replying, "No. I'm here to assist them in your capture. I gave them your whereabouts, told them how you travelled through Cleat and I provided them with travel arrangements to and from Atlas."

"So why didn't you help them fight me?" Asked Ashton.

"Two reasons." The general started to explain. "One, I was told by the elder not to interfere with the actual combat phase of the mission. And two, this is also an evaluation for this team. They were told that the only way for them to pass and become a full member of the Clave family, they would have to be victorious. This is not the case."

This news pricked the ears of the Nile and Kato.

"What do you mean, sir?" Asked Nile.

"I mean, my review of the fight will be added to the list of reasons why you both should become fully fledged members of the Clave Army."

Taken by the shock of what was said, both of the warriors were stunned. There was still a chance that they could still have their lifelong goals fulfilled.

"And what about Markus?" Asked Nile.

The general dropped his smile a shuck his head. "I'm afraid, with his sudden disappearance and leavening his teammates behind, he will most likely be subject to disciplinary action. But enough of that. Let's all get to the city and relay this to Clave castle."

In a dense area of the woodland, an out of breath Markus pants and wheezes whilst sat on a tree he just brought down in frustration.

'Damn it!' He thought to himself. 'Damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it!'

"Whoa! Careful or you might just fuck up and swear. *chuckle*" Said a mysterious voice.

Markus immediately rose to his feet, with his lance primed at the source of the voice. He spotted a woman stood behind him, leaning against the trunk of another tree. She had long hair that reached just past her shoulders, which started black and got a more dark purple tint as you looked down to its flicking ends. The hair partly obscured the left half of her face, but you could see her clear pale complexion and dark purple eye-shade and lipstick. She wore a purple shirt with frilly black cuffs and collar, which was open all the way past her belly button. It revealed her black bra and little decretive purple bow. The shirt also featured little black buttons going down the left side, which seemed ironic as they were clearly not getting used. Her trousers were also black and tight fitting, except for the way they flared out at the end of the sleeves. She finished her outfit with a pair of black heels which were also obviously intended to make her legs look a seductive as possible.

"My name is Indigo, and thank you for the complement." She answered.

Markus looked at her curiously. "I never said anything."

She smiled. "Yes you did. Just with your mind instead of your mouth. And despite how clean your language is, in or outside your head, your mind started rolling in the gutter as soon as you saw me." She said with a wink.

Markus blushed at the thoughts and images going through his mind.

"Oh my." She said giggling. "Relax, I'm here to extend to you an invitation. How would you like to get strong enough to absolutely demolish that Ashton guy, who's running an emotional riot in your noodle more than I am, in a single attack?"

Markus lowered his weapon slightly before saying,

"I'm listening."

* * *

**A/N: Well let me tell you that I thoroughly enjoyed writing the fight scene for this chapter. In the future I hope to create even more dramatic and intense fights. I would love to know what you as a reader are making of the story so far. Please don't feel shy. My hope is to one day write my own fiction, so knowing my strengths and weaknesses would go a long way to help me out. **

**Thanks for reading,**

**ManxMG **


	9. Chapter 9

In the Clave family castle's court, Ashton stands before the elder warriors. He is stood on the round platform, immersed in a pillar of light, just as his father was one week ago. And just like his father, Ashton had his sword placed in a stone in front of him.

"This court is now in session." Said one of the elders who were casting their judgment. "Do you have anything to say, that you wish to be on record, before we start?"

"Hi Grandpa." Ashton said smiling and waving to the judge addressing him.

"Please, Ashton. You're supposed to address me formally, during court being in session. Now if you have anything you would like to say, say it." Said the embarrassed grandparent, with his face turning red as if he was stood in the spotlight.

"Does it have to be 'it' or can I say other things, MrFormally?" Ashton asked, almost sounding innocent as he said it.

A few small chuckles were let out as the tension in the courtroom lightened up. The two loudest chuckles and a snort came from Zcholts and Kate. The two parents were both hunched over with their hands over their mouths and tears in the eyes, trying their best to hold in the laughter.

'His father was just like him at his age. Then again so was I. I guess this is a kind of karma for my mischief's.' The elder thought to himself before suggesting, "Perhaps we should just move along." Eager to regain control of the court, he continued. "Ashton Clave, you stand accused of deserting Clave grounds which may have lead to a leak in private techniques, teachings or personnel information of the family and its members. How do you plead?"

"Guilty." Ashton says without a second of hesitation. Giving all the elders, except for Ashton's grandfather, a puzzled look.

"So you acknowledge that what you did was self serving, and without caution for the family and its interests?" Asked the elder.

With that question, the tension of the court rose. The background chuckles died, and the looks on everyone's face changed as if they were the ones on trial. In the crowd, even Ashton mother was expressing concern. She looked to Zcholts, to see his reaction to the question that had silenced the room. His face was blank, showing neither joy or fear. Instead he was listening intently for the answer.

"I acknowledge no such thing!" Ashton said passionately, bringing a look of shock to the onlookers and a small smile to his father's face. "I accept that what I did was desertion, and so by that standard I am guilty. But what I did is in the future interest of the Clave family, army and all endeavours. In the past week, I've found that I've learned more about life and other team fighting techniques, than I have in the past year since passing the naming ceremony. Not only that, but I've seen how the outside world could become stronger with our help. My exploration has given me new ways to fight, and tools to fight with. And now I have returned to inform you all of this. So, 'self serving and without caution for the family and its interests' is not how I would describe my actions."

Taken back by the ballsy speech, the onlookers and elders all gave his words serious thought. The smile on Zcholts' face grew, and he thought to himself.

'Everyone should know better than to accuse Ashton of going against his honour. Saying that he's guilty of walking on someone's lawn is one thing. Calling him a deserter and selfish... I wouldn't be that stupid. People not holding up to their honour and duty is just about the only thing that will get Ashton mad.'

Ashton's grandfather then joined the serious tone that Ashton had brought into the room. They both stared at each other, neither one budging from their intense facial expressions.

"How can you be sure that information about the Clave family wasn't leaked?" Asked the elder.

Ashton thought for a moment, and a look of surprise washed over his face as he recalled something from his adventures.

"The file concerning me and the type of training I've received, that was brought in by the team sent to bring me back, was burned in the helicopter when it crashed. And I never said a thing about the Clave family." Said Ashton. "However, the day before the team engaged me, I was attacked by another team trying to achieve the same thing. It's in my debriefing report."

"Team NKTL, was it?" Asked the elder.

"That's right. I remember that they seemed to know about my weapons and my semblance. I also recall that, just like the retrieval team, they were surprised to see that I had a gun. Which means that the information they had wasn't up to date." Ashton stated. "My elder, permission to return to Atlas!"

The courtroom was getting plenty of practice in stunned silence, except for one voice in the back of the court which faintly said. "Say whaaaat?"

"Explain your reasoning for your request." Ordered the elder.

"They somehow have a link of information that leads to here. I wish the find this team and have them tell me the source of their information." Replied Ashton

"And why send you? They are others we could just as easily send."

"I'm the one they have the information on. Sending someone else could be risking their information being revealed too. Plus I've already met with this team. And as such, they would probably be more open to talking to me." Ashton explained. "So please, sir. Give me permission."

The elders took a moment to talk amongst themselves, which kept the room in suspense. They then all came to an agreement. Ashton's grandfather stood up and said.

"Ashton Clave, draw your sword. You're actions, although childish, have not lead to a compromise of the Clave family or Army. And the fact that you defeated your pursuers means that our ancestor warriors have selected this as your path. Now you will be dispatched to Atlas to gather information on this potential leak. Any questions?"

Ashton grabbed the handle of Starburn with both hands and pulled it from the stone. He then placed Starburn across his shoulders with his right hand and placed his left on his hip.

"Yeah, do I have to call you MrFormally all the time now or can I call you grandpa again?" He asked bringing a chuckle back to the courtroom.

Elsewhere, in an unknown location. A strange, dimly lit, laboratory's door opens flooding in a beam of light over a table in the middle of the room, which was covered with leather straps and buckles. The sounds of footsteps entered the room, followed by the door shutting. A switch is flipped and a light above the table flickers on. One of the figures walks over to the table and the light illuminates Markus' face.

"Don't be so afraid, sugar. It only looks scary." Says Indigo as she walks over to the table and leans her lower back against it.

"Explain to me again how this is a good idea." Markus said, nervously.

"Oh, come on. I told you already, about three times." She said before sighing and explaining anyway. "I'm specially trained to implant dust receptacles into the body. This allows the body to no longer limit the amount of aura you can use at any one time. All you need to do is load up on dust, and that becomes a... Substitute aura. You'll be able to punch harder, jump higher, run faster and defend yourself better than ever before."

"And the risks?" Asks Markus. "If something like this was so easy and beneficial, why doesn't everyone do it?"

"Put simply, not everyone is strong enough to handle it. But you're a member of the Clave army and have gone through so much in your training." Said Indigo. She then sat on the table and leaned back, supporting herself with her arms, before continuing. "If you want to beat Ashton Clave, you'll need to do this."

Markus gritted his teeth together as he remembered the day before his mission to retrieve Ashton started.

Markus was walking from the courtyard training ground, after sparring with Nile and Kato. As he moved down the darkened castle corridor, a figure of older woman stood staring out of the window at the inner and outer branch family villages. "180 years of protecting the main household, and you still can't see our house from here. You're father gives his life, saving one of the main house's brats, and all we get is a teacher for you and your sisters and a medal to remember him by. And now my only son is being taken away from me to save another one."

"This is different, mother. I have a serious chance of becoming a genuine member of the Clave family." Said Markus.

The woman just scoffed, and said. "Do you really think that these elitist will allow a mongrel into the wolf pack? You're so naive. If you win or not, you'll never be one of them."

"Father believed in them." Countered Markus.

"Your father was a fool!" She scorned, bitterly. "He believed in the main household, he believed that they would remember our family's hard work and sacrifices! We are one of 5,000 families that have been a part of this preparation of war, and he expected us to be picked from the crowd?!"

She turned to face Markus with nothing but disgust on her face.

"Mark my words." She continued. "The only thing you'll get out of this is the chance to beat the snot out of a spoiled brat. And if you can't even do that much, then you'll never be good enough for these bastards who took your father away."

"That's your mother? Shit, what a piece of work." Said Indigo, blacking Markus from his trance.

"That ability of yours is annoying." Said Markus glaring at the mind invading woman.

"She has got a point though. Usually my motto is, 'go big or go home'. In this case the second option is already out the window. Their golden boy of the cornel is one thing, but a lesser family member going ahead and deserting the Clave army during a mission. And a failed mission at that. I don't know about you, but I can't see them just wiping the slate after this." Said Indigo, as she walked her way across the room and passed Markus, and reopening the door. "Don't answer right now. Whether or not you still want to go through with this is up to you. But as far as I can tell, this is your one and only chance to make it back into the main household's good graces. A super soldier of the Clave Army. They would have to be crazy to say no."

Markus remained unmoving, with his eyes fixed on the operating table. A chance to redeem himself and achieve what his bloodline has struggled for over the past 180 years.

"I'll be back tonight. Just give yourself a chance to think it all through." Said Indigo

She slowly started closing the door. Markus on one side, thinking of his lack of choices. And Indigo on the other, smiling in the knowledge that she already knew his answer.

In a room of the Atlas hunter academy, team NKTL was having their final debriefing after their sparring match with Ashton.

"... And that's when he described his method of defence. Nothing we wouldn't learn over time. But it was the way he was able to analyze and counter our moves, or at least be physically and psychologically prepared for them, which was the clear difference in our abilities. It was like we were fighting a 60 year old veteran, in a teenager's body." Said Nickel, finishing his report.

He and his three teammates were stood, in a line, at attention. And sat behind a desk, with his elbows on the table and his hands clasped in front of his face, was Ironwood.

"So in conclusion, you didn't learn anything about how he acquired such techniques outside of, hard work. Is that an apt summation, Captain?" Said Ironwood to Nickel.

"Yes sir. I'm afraid, short of him just telling us, I can't even see how we could get that information." Answered Nickel.

"I see. Well there is one alternative. It's only a matter of time before the Clave family sends out a team to us for further negotiations. At this point, I believe they were not only talking about expanding their walls to include our school. But the reaction I got from the elders when I offered this proposal was positive as well." The General lowered his hands, revealing a smirk, before continuing. "Something tells me, Ashton Clave is already on his way back to meet us."

"Sorry, sir. But could you tell us, why did we fight him if we were sure that they would join us anyway?" Asked Teal

"Well in the event that we captured him, we would most likely be accepted by the Clave family on the spot for our hunter's abilities in battle. However, if we lost, we could still gather valuable information that could make us better fighters. That's also the reason I had you observed from a distance, during your confrontation. That way, no matter how things ended, it was a win-win."

Upon finishing his answer, a door at the back of the room opened and in walked a young woman. She was dressed in a white military uniform; thigh high white boots, a white pencil skirt with black tights, a white jacket, her hair in a bun and a simple purple tie around the collar of her white shirt.

"Just in time. Did you manage to identify anything that team NKTL haven't already put in their report, Ginodi?" Asked Ironwood.

"Sorry, General. I couldn't get anything from him during either of his fights. Even the team sent after him didn't give anything away." She answered and stopped in front of the desk, in line with the team.

"And what of Markus? The one ran."

"Apologies again, Sir. He was injured, but still too fast for me to catch up to." She bowed her head. "I'm sorry."

"Ginodi, you are one of my best stealth opps soldiers. For him to be able to escape you is not a black mark on your record. It's a credit to the level of training we're about to receive from our new alliance." The General said, reassuring her.

She raised her head and looked him straight in the eye.

"Thank you, sir." Replied Indigo, with her disguise giving away nothing of what lay beneath her smile.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

**Clave's Past part 1 of 2**

Markus lay on the operation table with his arms, legs, waste and neck tied to the table with leather straps. To his left, a tray full of various syringes filled with different kinds of dust. His right side had monitors showing his heart rate, aura levels, blood pressure and various other life signs. And at the foot of his bed stood Indigo, wearing a pair of bicep long surgical gloves.

"I thought you said I wouldn't need to be opened up." Said Markus looking down to where Indigo stood.

"You don't. I just wear the gloves 'cause I like the way feel." She says before taking a pinch of the latex glove from her wrist, pulling it a little and then letting it slap back against her skin. "Ohh... Kinky." She said teasing her experiment.

Markus was eager to move on before the images in his head got too graphic.

"So you said the first test is to see which dust best suits my aura. How do we do that?" He asked.

"Very easily." She said confidently.

She brought another rolling table to over to his left. On top of the table was a small metal box, which had a pressure gauge style dial and circular, rubber lined whole on the top.

"With this do-hickey I can find out without so much as scratching you." she said, almost reassuring him.

She then grabbed two wires that were also attached to the box. One which had a plastic clip, which she placed over one finger, and another with a blood pressure strap, which she wrapped around the bicep of the same arm. She then pressed a button on the front of the device, which turned on the machine and inflated the arm strap.

"No pain so far, right?" She asked, patronizingly. "Next, all I need to do is insert one dust crystal to see if there's a reaction. It a pretty ingenious machine, really." She said picking up the first crystal to be tested, and plugging it into the circular whole. "First up is green."

The needle on the counter rose slightly and somewhat anticlimactically.

"The weak reaction tells us that your body isn't very compatible with whichever type of dust that's in the machine." She explained as she ejected the crystal and reached for a new one.

One by one, she tested each type of dust to see which is most compatible with her guinea pig.

"And the last one... black." Said Indigo.

The needle on the dial showed the strong reaction of the dust. And the glow of the crystal, whilst part of the circuit, confirmed it.

"And there we have it. You're strongly compatible with two dust types. Black and white. Now we can move on to the elements which you're most compatible with. This test will hurt." She said, inserting the white crystal back into the machine and standing at the head on the table. "Ready, sugar?"

"Ready for what?" Asked Markus. A little on edge from what she had said.

She placed her hands on the young man's shoulders, closed her eyes, and created a large glyph over his body. The glyph was unlike anything Markus had seen. Its purple pattern was weaving through the air above him, like a ribbon caught in a gentle breeze. It finally formed a solid glyph, with several circles equally spaced around its perimeter. Then as the glyph slowly spun around, positioning one of the circles above Markus' head, they displayed one of the world's elements each. Wind, water, fire, earth and lightning.

"Tell me. What part of this is supposed to hurt?" Asked Markus.

Indigo opened her eyes and gave a small smirk.

"Above you are the five elements of nature and in the compatibility machine is a dust crystal which is giving a strong reaction to your body. Now we need to know which of these elements can be added to your system that doesn't ruin your compatibility with the dust." Explained Indigo. "And there's only one way to expose your system to the elements... This is what's gonna hurt."

Just as she finished talking, the glyph burst into life once again. Its ribbon like form reached down and placed a sixth circle on Markus' exposed stomach. The circle containing fire then moved and repositioned itself above the newly laid circle.

"Fire!" Yelled Indigo, as she summoned a cylinder of fiercely burning flames down onto Markus' belly.

The young soldier could only scream out in pain, as the heat burned through him, the flames plunging him into agony. He convulsed against the leather straps which restrained him, only to prove that there was nothing he could do to make it stop. The flames then ceased, and the flame that was in the original glyph's circle had been extinguished. This proved to Indigo that fire wasn't a good match for him. The next element moved into position.

"Wind!" Yelled the merciless scientist. Which brought a hurricane of ripping air currents, tearing down on her test subjects stomach.

Bathed in pain, Markus' mind started to unravel. Images of his unimpressed mother started to stand over him and started to ridicule him.

"You think this is pain?" Asked the judgmental hallucination. "Try giving birth to boy, knowing he can never amount to anything except disappointment. The greatest thing to happen in this family, since its integration into the rejects of the Clave, is when your father died and forced them to take notice of us!"

"Lightning!" Shouted Indigo.

A continuous shower of lightning bolts made every muscle in his body convulse out of control.

"And now your master plan is to show them how strong you are?!" Markus' mother continued. "Look at yourself Markus! Is this the look of someone deserving of praise?! The only thing you could do that'll get you into that castle is applying to be their new jester. At least then they'll be laughing to your face instead of behind our back!"

"Earth!" Announced Indigo. And a column of churning mud, rock and shards of stone dug at his raw flesh.

"I bet that Ashton boy wouldn't even be flinching at all this! Pride, self respect, honour and the rest of that bull shit, keeping him strong! God, the thought of that family's pride, coupled with that look on your face! I would vomit if it would stop me from having to experience such things!"

"Last one. Water!" Said Indigo. As she activated the last of the elements and its fury.

A thin and solid jet of water blasted at Markus' abdomen. Then more appeared, closely packed together to the original. Then several more groups like that appeared and stared to rotate around the centre cluster of jets.

"That's a thought. I wonder if my life would have been better, had I of given birth to the Ashton boy instead of you." The hallucination pondered. "He would probably have raised this family to greatness years ago. Instead, we're stuck in the slum of this family. We're not even fit to be in the same army as them. Your father thought we could be as good as them. But why are we even talking about them in the first place?! They have no clue who we are, what we're feeling or why we're even still here! If this new power of yours gives you anything, make it the start of that castle crumbling down!"

*WWWRRAAAAAHHHHHH!*

Markus let out one final scream as he was suspended between consciousness, unconsciousness and his mind snapping. And just as Markus was nearly killed by the strain that was put on his body, the water torrent stopped. The purple ribbon of the glyph faded and the second stage of the procedure was over. Markus attempted to look down towards the suspected whole in his gut, but he was somehow unmarked.

He looked up at Indigo and asked, "How?" Exhausted as he was, the one word was all he could muster.

"The test was for your aura, not your body. So even though you felt as if the elements were burrowing their way through you, it was your aura which was getting hit. And I was paying attention to the read out on the machine to check how compatible your aura and the elements were, with the crystals."

"So... What were the results?" He asked

Indigo pointed a finger over to the crystal, which was sat in the machine. The crystal had beads of water droplets attached to it. Indigo then walked over to the crystal and examined it further.

"Well this is interesting." She stated. "These water droplets are frozen. Your element of choice is water, but in its solid form. And now we know that, we can get to work on installing the dust receptacles."

"And what's the first step of that?" He asked, with a little more colour in his cheeks.

"Well... That's a lot more complicated." She said, playing with her hair. "The technique for this is like giving you a whole new aura. So we have to break down your current aura before we can, basically, replace it. If we had access to someone who could neutralize the aura you have, that would be a different story. But unfortunately, that's not the case."

"Whoa! Hang on!" Markus said in surprise from what he had heard. "I thought this was meant to enhance my current aura!"

"Well here's the thing. Imagine you've just had a new kidney put into your body. In some cases the new organ can be rejected, because the body sees it as an invading threat." She explained. "The dust aura can be treated the same way. So to avoid that happening, we need to remove what would see it as a treat in the first place. In the case of the kidney, we would give you anti rejection medication to suppress your immune system. But what would detect your new aura as a threat, is you old one. So we've got to scoop it out first."

"And what about getting one of these aura neutralizer, things?" Asked Markus.

"It's not a thing, it's a who. Aura neutralization is an fairly rare semblance. I've only every read of a hand full of times that people have been born with that ability." She said, ensuring that Markus knew that it had to be done this way.

"Ok." He agreed consenting, and thinking of the image of his mother that had appeared before him. "Let get started."

Indigo moved back over to the head of the table, and placed her hands on either side of Markus' head. He felt the gentle warmth of her hands on his face. She then leaned in and pressed her lips, seductively, upon his forehead. She then lifted her head away, revealing the purple lipstick left on his forehead.

"Sorry, sugar. This is going to get pretty uncomfortable."

With those words said. A glyph like ring appeared around Markus' ankles, wrists and forehead. They stared to glow brighter and brighter and the warmth of Indigo's hands turned into a ferocious burning.

"If you pass out during this, I assure you, you'll wake up a new man." Said Indigo, as a sudden cold sensation engulfed him.

The last thing Markus thought to himself, before darkness encroached over his eyes was,

'Is this what dying feels like?'

His body was coated in such agony that his brain couldn't come up with a way to react. His mouth was open, but harboured a silent scream. Every muscle in his body felt like they were convulsing so much, that they would tear themselves away from his bones. However, his body was motionless. The darkness spilled over his eyes, as his consciousness left him. And in that moment, his last thoughts were of his father.

**Fifteen years ago**

"I've been called for protection duty." Said a father, sat at a table with his family.

A young girl, at around the age of 2, and a 3 year old boy were sat either side of the table eating their curry dinner. And sat at the end was a heavily pregnant wife.

"You mean that you're going to see the family in the castle, daddy?" Asked the little girl.

"That's right, Gina. Daddy's going to make sure they're safe as they go through the trial of blades and shades." Said the father with a loving smile on his face.

"Are you bringing Getsuga with you?" Asked the little boy with an excited smile of his face.

"Sure am, Markus. I'm going to use this to keep the main family safe, and make them all really impressed." He answered, making the little boy's eyes widen and giving him an excited grin.

The little boy was young, but already aspired to be like his father. A nobleman of the Clave army. Respected by the inner and outer villages, and having regular meetings with a Clave family second lieutenant. The mother, up until now, remained silent. By her expression you could tell her distaste for any subject that involved the main household.

"Shouldn't you be leaving the main family to care of themselves? I mean they're not incapable of doing so. You have your own family to protect, Rick." She said with her hand on her swollen belly.

"Hayla, you know that the more we do for the main household the more they do for us. It's a symbiotic relationship." He answered.

"I've known you for over 10 years and you never have anything bad to say. And you seem to get excited whenever you get to do these boot licking jobs for the main family. Why is that? I mean, my family has never really tried to do anything to get noticed by those elitists, but you have no family left. When I met you, you were just a skilled warrior boy who was all alone. But now you have us. Why bother with the main family?" Hayla asked, causing the young Markus to drop his smile.

Rick stood up from his chair and walked around the table to his wife's side. Placing one hand on her shoulder and the other on the back of her head, he embraced her in a warm and loving hug.

"One day I'll tell you all everything that I'm working towards. But until then, I can only keep doing what I'm doing." He said cryptically.

Although clearly frustrated with his reply, Hayla's angry to the main family melted away. She could never stay mad in the warm arms of her husband. He then moved away from her and towards a wooden cabinet. He opened the doors revealing his Getsuga. The strange weapon had a wide double edged blade, with two other blades either side instead of a guard. A small handle, which was only big enough for his one hand to grip comfortably, was fixed to the end making the weapon look somewhat like a dagger, especially as the main blade was only 10 inches long from tip to the grip. Rick fastened a holster for it to his lower right leg and slipped in the main blade like a knife into a boot.

The young boy sneakily grabbed an apple from a bowl of fruit from the centre of the table before silently throwing it towards his father's back. In an amazing single movement, he stomped his right foot on the floor, which extended the weapons handle to a spear's length and into his hand. He turned whilst spinning the weapon with both hands and the weapon extended, spiralling, towards the apple. In an instant, the apple hand been split in two and the two halves had been pierced by the side blades. The spear head stopped extending in between the two children, who giggled and took half an apple each. He smiled at his young ones, before re-holstering his weapon.

"I'll be back before daybreak. Don't worry, and make sure not to go into the woods tonight." He said before turning to the door, and making his way out off the house.

'That was the last time I saw him alive.' Markus thought to himself, as his wide open eyes regained their vision.

"Welcome to the new you." Said Indigo who was sat to the side of the table.

Markus' restraints were already removed allowing him to sit up. He placed a hand on his head and rubbed where he could remember one of Indigo's hands burning the side of his head. He went to move his hand away but paused when he saw the purple, tattoo like, bracelet around his wrist. He then checked his other wrist and then both ankles, and found that they had been branded with the same mark.

"Don't worry about the fashion statement, they're the outlets I was telling you about. Them and..." Indigo stopped taking and walked over to Markus to show him his reflection in a hand mirror. "This one."

A final band was across his forehead, and although the parts going on the side and back of his head was covered with hair, the hair that was covering the markings had turned purple as well.

"Now then, do you want to test out your new abilities?" She asked.

Markus didn't reply. Instead he climbed down from the table and walked over to an office chair which had his clothes folded on it. He put on his underwear and trousers before walking to a locker next to the chair. He reached inside and pulled out his lance which he took and placed it on the operation table. Markus took a moment, and took a deep breath. Holding the lance with one hand on the handle and the other on its shaft, he let out his breath whilst twisting the two in opposite directions. He then pulled the handle and a segment of the lance away, revealing a storage compartment. And within that was his father's weapon, Getsuga.

"I'm ready." Said Markus, as he drew the weapon and squeezed the handle tightly.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

**A New Title, A New Age**

In the central plaza of Atlas, a few recognizable voices drown out all others and drew the attention of a few passer-biers.

"God damn it, that hurts!" Shouted Lexy, as she examined a bruise on the back of her arm.

"We're all banged up, Lexy. Stop complaining about it! Broadcasting the fact you're hurting is just making you look weak." Scolded Kyte.

All the members of team NKTL had gathered in a local coffee shop after training, for a rest after the day's training.

"Aww shut up you Faunus flashlight!" Lexy lashed back, mocking Kyte's semblance.

"You wanna get more bruises? You load mouth skank!" Countered Kyte; mocking Lexy's talkativeness.

The insults continued as Nickel and Teal either pretended to not know them or pretend they weren't there. The two just sat with embarrassed looks on their faces and eating the café's signature, lemon drizzle cake.

"What's cake without a sibling quarrel? Ae, Teal?" Joked Nickel; not being heard by the raging brother and sister.

"Shh. If they hear you we might get dragged into it again." Stressed Teal, as he was clearly speaking from experience.

"If you concentrated harder you wouldn't be as banged up as you are! Trying to learn that technique for defending that Ashton taught us requires absolute focus!" Pointed out Kyte.

"I've been doing that, but when it doesn't work it hurts! Is it ok if I can just express how I feel after training so hard?!" Said Lexy; arguing her case.

"That's no reason to yell it so that everyone on Remnant can hear that you're weak!" Shot Kyte.

At this point, Nickel exercised his authority as group leader. He stood up, reached across the table and took the cake away from Kyte and Teal.

"Hey!" The bickering siblings said in unison.

"No indoor voices, no cake." Said the team leader.

"You know what to do Kyte. On 3." Lexy said as they both crouched and turned away from Nickel.

"1..." said Lexy.

"2..." Said Kyte.

At this point, Nickel was on guard and ready for their potential attack.

"3!" They said together.

They both turned around with their bottom lips poking out, their chins quivering and their eyes tearing up.

'Why would they think that would work on him?' Thought Teal to himself, before looking to see Nickel's response.

Nickel's face was quivering and expressing many emotions. The duo kept up their puppy dog eyes. The emotional storm brewing inside Nickel tore at him, until he eventually caved. He dropped his head to his chest and handed back the cakes. The victors took back their prizes, sat down and discreetly bumped fists.

"Damn, that hurts!" Said Lexy, shaking the hand used to bump fists.

Nickel sat back in his seat and Teal drank some coffee.

"Honestly..." Began Teal. "Bickering over bruises, crying over cake and caving in to peer pressure. I'm glad Ashton isn't here to see this."

And as if planned out, a knock came from the window. The team turned to look, and saw a random man giving a slight wave from the other side of the glass.

"Not what I was expecting." Said Lexy.

Then the man lifted his other hand and pressed a note against the window.

'You guys looking for me?' Read the note.

"Anyone know who he is?" Asked Nickel.

"Nope."

"No."

"Na ah."

"His name is Geoff."

"Oh, ok... Wait." Said Nickel.

The team all turn to see Ashton, who was sat at the end of the table; taking a full bite out of a slice of cake.

"Ashton?!" Said the team in unison; startling Ashton nearly causing him to choke on his food.

"Umm... Ashton. Who's your friend?" Asked Lexy.

"Just a guy who wanted a free slice of cake." Answered Ashton.

The team look back around to see the man, enjoying his own slice before holding up a new note, which read 'Thanks', before he turned and walked away.

"I see you guys look pretty banged up. What happened?" Ashton asked.

"Occupational training hazard, you might say." Answered Kyte; cryptically.

"Ever since you showed us your technique for defending, we've been trying to perfect it ourselves." Replied Nickel. "Would you mind telling us how long it took you to master it?"

"No problem." Said Ashton; generously. "Well you've been up to it for 2 days...and it took me... Yada, yada, yada, carry the 1, put the 1 back... 14 months."

The team let out a groan, sank their heads, and thought of the months of body pain yet to come.

"Anyway, Ashton, what brings you back here?" Asked Nickel.

Ashton was about to take another bite of cake, when he was asked. The question made him stop and put the slice down.

"Would you believe, I'm here on business. *chuckle*" Ashton said, as if he was saying, 'imagine that'.

The team listened eagerly to the mission that would bring a Clave out of the mountains.

"So you're liaising between the Clave council and General Ironwood?" Asked Lexy.

"How do you guys know the General?" Ashton questioned.

"We're students of his." She answered.

"So he's the one who gave you the order to take me in, huh." Ashton said smirking.

Lexy looked puzzled as she wondered why he would be asking that. Kyte finally realized what was going on.

"You really are a loud mouth." Said Kyte to Lexy.

"What do you mean?!" She asked aggressively, due to the insult.

"He's here to find out who we work for. Nickel told him that we were instructed to attempt to bring him in, but we never told him who we were working for. That is until you just blurted it out." Stated Kyte.

"Actually..." Started Ashton. "She just said that he is your teacher. Your reaction just now told me the rest."

Hearing this, Lexy pulled her tongue out at her brother.

"I wouldn't get to ahead of yourself, Lexy." Said Ashton, making her look at him puzzled and yet still with her tongue poking out from her mouth. "It was from what you said that I was able to tell that whoever knew about me running from the Clave castle was informed about me within the next day of me leaving. I remember, when I caught your team by surprise with my gun, you said, 'There was nothing in the file about him using a gun'. So that. implies that whoever instructed you to get me, gave you information about me. My mission was to find out whom that is and if we have a leak of information."

"Sounds like your mission is completed." Said Teal.

"Not quite. That's the second reason I came to talk to you guys first." Ashton stated, before taking a big slurp of coffee. "I need to have a talk with the General."

"Whaaa!" Said the team, at the same time, whilst Lexy's tongue was still hanging from her mouth.

In the office of General James Ironwood. The General was having a video conference call with several unknown figures.

"How can you be so sure of your success, General, without an actual treaty being drawn between you and the Claves?" Asked one of the mysterious figures.

Ironwood just smiled and replied, "In but a few words, I'd say there is most likely a message carrier on his way here to give us a draft of this document as we speak. There's is no reason to fret. I'm sure that this will be the start of a long a lucrative phase in our military's history."

Several knocks sounded from the door before it opened and Ginodi's head peaked from around the corner.

"Unfortunately, that is all I have time for. I'm needed for another meeting. But please, do not worry. The next step in our military's power is moments away and it's all under control." Said Ironwood; with a calm and collected smile on his face.

"Very good General." Responded one of the figures. "Ensure that we are informed immediately, should this document appear."

With that, the conversation was done and the computer screen turned off. Ginodi closed the door behind her and walked into the room and up to the General's desk.

"Reporting back from leave, sir." She said, saluting Ironwood as he sat behind his desk.

"Good to have you back, Ginodi. How do you feel?" He asked.

"A small headache, sir, but most of my cold's symptoms have dissipated." She replied.

"Good. Now then... Any word on the Clave deserter?"

"No, sir. He seems to have gone into hiding and has been, so far, undetected." She reported.

"Such a shame. Catching him would put us even further in the Clave's good books."

"Speaking of the Clave's, sir, are you sure you should be promising the military higher ups a treaty? I mean we still don't know exactly what the Claves are thinking, in regards to future collaborations." Ginodi pointed out.

"After this whole endeavour, with the young Major Ashton, I'd be surprised if they didn't walk in through that door right... Now." Said Ironwood, trying to predict the door to his office opening.

A moment of silent staring at the door began, and was broken when Ginodi asked, "Permission to mock, sir?"

The General just gave her a disapproving glare.

"Never mind, sir. My asking proves my point, I feel." Finishes Ginodi, with a chuckle.

At that moment, a great noise could be heard coming from the other side of the General's door.

"Excuse me, sir..."

"You can't go in, without..."

"No you can't bribe me with cake!"

"Fine. I'd need to take any weapons you're holding."

"Why is it so big?! Does it need to be that big?!"

"Damn, it's heavy too!"

"And that."

"No you can't, 'just keep the gun'!"

"You four are escorting him?"

"Hang on, I'll announce you."

*knock knock*

"I mention over the intercom."

"How could you not know what an intercom is?"

"It's used to... I'll just show you."

*buzztt*

"General, there's a man claiming to be a liaison here to see you."

'No shit.' Ginodi thought to herself, as Indigo's true voice spoke through her thoughts.

The General took his hand away from his face and pressed a button to reply.

"Show him in." He said before taking his finger from the button and letting out a sigh.

The door opened and in walked Ashton and team NKTL.

"You see, where I come from. If your one door away from someone, you knock on that door and they let you in. Surely this is just technology for technology's sake." Said Ashton as he walked up to the desk. "Good afternoon General Ironwood, sir. Your secretary seems nice."

The secretary, who was stood next to the open door with cake crumbs on her face, blushed before slowly leaving the room and closing the door behind her.

"And good afternoon to you, Major Clave." Said the General as he stood from his chair. "It's good to see you again. What brings you back to Atlas?"

"Just as your secretary said, I'm an acting liaison. I just need to clear a few things with you before we finalize our considerations for joining our two militaries." Explained Ashton.

"Please..." Said the General. "Ask as much as you'd like. I'll answer what I'm capable of."

"Thank you, General."

Ashton's attention was then drawn to the unknown assistant, to the General's side.

"Where are my manors? This is my Lieutenant and my right hand officer, Ginodi Venous. She handles specialist missions for me." Said Ironwood with a proud undertone.

"I see." Replied Ashton. "So if she is the one who handles missions, why is it that you didn't send her to capture me when I was in Atlas, last? Is it because she was surveying the encounter to give you a better report afterwards?"

Ashton's questions took everyone in the room off guard.

"Excuse me?" Queried Ironwood, with a serious and stern sound to his voice. "What are you trying to imply, Major?"

"Well sir, I would like to know why you thought it would be wise to target me with your own team. Whilst, all the while, organizing for my retrieval with the agreed upon team form Clave."

Ashton spoke with nothing but clear confidence in his voice. Hands clasped behind his back and impeccable posture, transformed Ashton from a laughing and light hearted boy offering cake, to a military official. The General knew that by this stage, anything other than the truth would be seen as further violation of trust later down the line. Ironwood has been where Ashton was standing before, and knows the drill.

"I believed that if I provided you to the Clave council myself, I could better our relationships even further. An alliance with the Clave has always been our goal with this endeavour." Explained Ironwood.

"Forgive me, General, but that doesn't explain why you did it without telling the Clave Council." Ashton said, not mincing his words.

"Quite simply, I wanted to surprise the Council. The last thing I'd want is for them to feel that we would be the only ones benefiting from a union between our military forces." The General admitted humbly.

'Whoa...' Ashton thought to himself. 'These are the thoughts and decision of a rookie leader. Not a General of an army. I mean, I admit that I've attempted to show off to impress the higher ups. But with stakes as high as combining two armies, only a fool would take that chance.'

'That doesn't sound good.' Thought Ginodi, as she listened to Ashton as he processed his thoughts.

The tension of the room was broken, when another round of loud conversation could be heard from the other side of the door.

"Excuse me, can I help?"

"Ah, well he's in a meeting at the moment."

"You're a messenger?"

"Even so. He is already seeing someone."

"No, I've just had cake."

"There 'is' a thing as too much Cake."

"Ooohhh... Blueberries."

"I'll need your sword."

"Sir, that kind of joke is fringing on harassment."

"What is it with you guys and your big swords?"

"Seriously sir. One more like that and I'll be using my mace."

"What do you mean, 'that's not a mace'?"

"It's pepper spray."

"No, you can't eat it!"

*AAAAWWAAAAHHHHHH!*

"I told you it's not for eating!"

"Maybe it is best if I just announce you."

*knock knock*

"I meant over the inter... Never mind."

The door opens and in steps the secretary with an unexpected guest.

"General, sir, May I introduce a messenger from Clave. Col. Zcholts Clave."

The General, as well as Ginodi and Ashton, all gave a look of shocked surprise as the Cornel made his way into the room. Team NKTL, however, had no idea of who this strange man was. They just took notice of the General's reaction to him, and knew that his presence was significant.

"Is this guy really such a big deal?" Asked Teal quietly to the team. "I mean the guy has tears running down his face from trying to eat pepper spray."

"General, I don't believe we've met. I'm the Cornel to the Clave army and Ashton's father, Zcholts Clave."

The team all shared a stunned look as they processed the idea. But it did at least explain why he wouldn't know about the spray. In Clave society, such a piece of self-defence equipment would be unnecessary. Every other man and woman has a weapon that they can defend themselves with.

"I've come baring a document. Would you mind, General, if I delivered it?" Asked Zcholts.

A smile came across Ironwood's face, in anticipation of what the document was.

"Please, Cornel, go right ahead." Said Ironwood, as he sat back into his chair.

"Thank you." Zcholts said, walking to the General's desk.

Zcholts then stop before reaching the desk and held out a letter that had on it a wax seal. The seal depicted 3 crossing swords, which was the Clave council's Sigel. However, to Ironwood's disappointment, Zcholts extended his arm to Ashton.

"Your new orders." Said Zcholts, with a proud look on his face. "We finally did it, son."

Ashton took the letter, and everyone noted a slight tremble of his hand as he held it. He then pulled at the seal, peeling it from the envelope, and slid out the message.

"It is from here and henceforth..." Said Ashton; reading out loud. "... That the Clave army, under the direction and guidance of the council, will allow for advanced recon units for the assessment and analysis of the outer world and its military standing. These units are free to pursue any military force they choose, so long as it is agreed open by the council and monthly reports are received by the council which contains good reason for the unit's interest. Should the unit be required for active service, it will be recalled and a replacement will be sent to continue the unit's work until its return.

The following notification is concerning Major Ashton Clave.

It is from here and henceforth that Major Ashton Clave be named the 1st advanced recon unit. He is to study and assess a military power of the outer world, and is to issue his first report to state the name and location of the facility within the next 7 days. Upon receiving this report, the time for his second report will be due for 30 days following. That is all.

Clave council representative, Elder Shaun Clave (Grandpa)"

Ashton looked up to see his father. Still with tears in his eyes, but not because of the pepper spray. His son had achieved what he fought for, for so many years. And soon, the option to become a part of the recon unit will be available on mass.

"So son, you have a week to choose a military. Where do you think you will go?" Asked Zcholts.

"I'm not sure. But I am sure of this. I want to see as much of the world as I can." Said Ashton, with a nervous excitement.

"Let's go celebrate! You four!" Zcholts said turning to the unusually quite team NKTL. "You're from this area, correct?"

"Umm... Yes sir." Said the team nervously.

"Then you shall take us to your most highly recommend restaurant. Let's go!" Shouted Zcholts; cheerfully.

A cloud of dust kicked up as the over excited Cornel grabbed hold of his son and team NKTL before running out of the room, slamming the door behind them.

"Whoa! Why are you in such a rush?!"

"Well here are your weapons back."

"No kidding, you two are father and son?"

"Aww, a family dinner, how nice."

"Thanks but I'm working."

"'Quit, and go to dinner'. Not the most persuasive argument."

"Seriously, sir, enough with the innuendo."

...

"That's it."

*Ssssssssttttt*

*AAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHH*

"Even worse when it's in the eyes isn't it?!"

"You just don't learn, do you!"

The commotion continued for some time before leaving the General and Ginodi in the solitude of silence.

"General. What do you think of all this?" Asked Ginodi.

The General placed his, clasped together, hands in front of his face.

"It far from ideal. But if this one Clave won't stay with us, as the letter says, there will be others. The game has changed, but the prize stays the same."

"Very well, sir." Said Ginodi. "I'll take my leave."

The General's assistant gave a solute, before making her way out of the office.

'Looks like the plan has been accelerated.' Indigo thought to herself. 'But no matter. These 'young warriors' learn extremely fast.'

In an unknown location, a dimly lit room contains Markus as he attempts to get to know his abilities better. The room was large enough to support Markus' large swings and thrusts, with the length changing spear of his father. The weapon could be as small as a dagger or up to 15ft long. Back when it was his father wielding it, it was known as the 4th range weapon. It was called this due to the unique way he used it to flawlessly attack and defend at all ranges. And although Markus was only 3 when he last saw his father use it, he could still remember the grace and majesty in his father's movements.

Large sweeping actions quickly transformed into a barrage of rapid spear thrusts. Left trailing behind the spearhead's swings was a somewhat enchanting afterimage of, what appeared to be, a faint shimmering ribbon. The room seemed to be getting colder and colder as his flashy display grew more animated. Soon his breath became visible. Then beakers of various fluids; that were on trays pushed to the sides of the room, began to show signs of ice crystals starting to form. And as a finale to his athletic exercises he lunged forward, as he was used to doing from using his lance, and pierced the tip of the spear into the wall. And on the point of contact a black ice encased the wall, and it caused the lights of the room the fail, plunging the room into almost absolute darkness.

The door into the room was also coated with a thin layer of ice which was beginning to crack, as someone on the other side attempted to open it. The door eventually gave and, almost falling in, Indigo in her Ginodi disguise entered.

"You'll never guess who just came back to town." She said with a sadistic smile on her face.

As a frozen bead of sweat broke from the tip of Markus' hair before hitting the floor and shattering into ice dust. He retracted his spear from the wall, and staring at the dozens of perfect reflections showing him his bloodthirsty eyes in the black ice, he said, "Ashton Clave."


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

**The Atlas Ice-age**

In the Lad and Gent's barbecue house, a stomach bloated team NKTL all slumped in their chairs as the father and son finished their meals with a competitive speed. Both of them finish simultaneously before placing the plate on the top of a stack of ten. The waitress to the table walked back over with her note pad in hand.

"Anything else I can get you sirs? Maybe a desert? We do have a selection of pies, ice creams, cakes and..."

"Cakes?" Said the father and son, interrupting the waitress.

"You can't be serious!" Said Teal in disbelief.

"There's no way you guys have room for cake!" Said Kyte, as Lexy dribbled on his shoulder whilst in her food coma.

Almost outraged the two bottomless pits stood up and yelled, "THERE'S ALWAYS ROOM FOR CAKE!"

The volume of their statement startled the team and caused Lexy to yell in her sleep, "Witch is gonna eat me!"

Everyone stared at her for a few moments before Zcholts turned to the waitress and ordered a slice of their most popular cake for everyone. The two Clave's took their seats and the waitress went to get their orders from the kitchen.

" ..." Started Nickel timidly

"No need to be so formal, just call me Zcholts."

"Thanks. Zcholts, can I ask you a question about the Clave and the main and side branches of the family?"

The question put to him took Zcholts a little off guard. But he just looked over to Nickel and replied with, "What would you like to know?"

"Well I've heard that all the members of the main family have the last name of Clave, and those not in the main house are given opportunity to become a Clave by proving themselves. But when did that all start?"

The question put forward spiked the attention of all the other members of team NKTL, except Lexy who was still mumbling something about following breadcrumbs in her dream. Ashton placed his elbow on the table and rested his head in the palm of his hand. Clearly it was a story he had already heard plenty of times in the past.

"Around 1,500 years ago a great calamity befell Remnant. It is said that this was the last great evolution of the creatures of Grimm. Up until this point they had been predictable and their behaviour was easy to follow. You didn't need to be a great fighter to defend yourself as they were slow enough and dumb enough for a woman and her child to defend themselves or escape them. But then something changed. We're still not sure exactly why, but they became more bloodthirsty, ferocious and more predatorily. The Grimm had learned. Over the course of a few weeks, whole villages and towns were washed of their inhabitants by this Black Sea of red eyes. It's believed that around 25,000 people across 10 towns perished with nothing but their bloodied clothes, torn up homes and abandoned possessions to show that there was once life there.

On the 10th week of this genocide, 10 survivors from the 10 towns stood forward. The ashes of what they experienced were believed to have given then a second birth. They stood at the gates of the 11th town and said 'No more.' With weapons drawn they fought the red eyed beasts for 30 days and nights. Until the Grimm had once again learned, and retreated. This event is symbolized in one of our rites of passage when raising young warriors. The fiercest warrior was named the leader of the 10 survivors. His name was Jera Clave. He was the first of the main household, and the rest followed him as the outer branches of the family. There was Bankai, Bastion, Riddick, Arc, Shell, Hadley, Oum, Gavino and Xiong. Each one of them held their own great blades, the designs of which we still use to this day. Ashton's Starburn is modelled after the grand executioner's blade held by Tyrone Bastion, and he lives by his values."

At that moment a desert trolley was rolled up next to the table and a slice of strawberry cheesecake was served to everyone.

"Excuse me, but what do you mean by 'his life values'?" Asked Kyte.

Zcholts smiled. "The honour of duty. Each of the founders had their own main values and it is traditional for any member of the Clave army to select one of these and live by it. There is a value which is practiced by all members, and that is that our weapons are never holstered. That was the value of Jera Clave. To be ever vigilant and prepared for the next time we are needed to defend the people from creatures of Grimm. The last names of the other 9 original members are the last names which are shared out amongst the inner and outer villages of the Clave mountain range."

"Then when did your family enter the Clave ranks?" Asked Teal.

"We are descended from the family of Riddick. And we've been Clave for 136 generations. And now we are the first to venture out and explore the outer world!" Zcholts said, holding his drink up to Ashton who had strawberry sauce around his mouth and a fork placed across his plate. "I'm looking forward to the many stories he will bring to the Clave castle."

"Are you sure it's ok for you to travel on your own, Ashton?" Asked Nickel. "I mean you'll most likely survive just fine, but you're completely new to the world. When you first came into town, you thought it would be fine to just carry that massive blade of yours across your back. Then you had a run in with the cops, who taught you otherwise."

Ashton lifted his head from his palm and whipped the sauce from around his mouth. "Well that's all part of the adventure." Ashton said heart-fully. "But for now, I have a question for you, team NKTL."

The team shared a look of surprise and Lexy, half awake with drool on her face, rubbed her eyes.

"Who is Ginodi?" He asked.

The team relaxed a bit, but still maintained an air of curiosity as to his question.

"She's the General's right hand." Explained Teal. "She gets high ranking missions and reports directly to the General."

"No no." Said Ashton. "That's what she is, not who."

Zcholts started to look curiously and asked, "What are you getting at, son?"

"There was something about her when I first walked into Ironwood's office. A feeling of predator breathing on my back. Like a smell of bitter almonds warning me that the apple is poisoned."

The whole team looked at Ashton, their mouths slightly open from the shock of his insinuation.

"What are you getting at, Ashton?" Asked Nickel.

Ashton let out a sigh. "I'm not sure that she is who she says she is."

"You've met her once, and she's been working here for months! What honestly do you have, to make you think that she's lying to us?!" Asked Kyte, obviously outraged from Ashton's question.

"You say that she's the General's right hand and does specialist missions for him. What's her mission success rate?"

"Out of the 20 or so missions she has been assigned over the past two months, she has returned from all of them successful." Answered Nickel.

"And she was observing me during my last time here?" He asked.

"Yeah... So what?" Asked Kyte still with a sting to his voice.

"Then she also watched me fight against the team sent to retrieve me, yes?"

"She did." Answered Nickel.

"Right. So how did someone as skilled as she is, who watched the fight and learn the movements of the fighters, allow an injured and aura depleted man run away?"

The team stopped and thought about the circumstances of what Ashton had pointed out. And the more they thought about it, the more their hearts sank into their stomachs.

"B-but, she has working with us for over 18 months. And with the General as a private hire huntress before that. Your saying she, what, killed him?" Asked Lexy, hoping she was still dreaming.

"No. She most likely took him somewhere. For what and why, I have no idea." Answered Ashton.

"She's after the secrets of the Clave." Said Zcholts. "You said that she has been working with you for 18 months?"

Lexy nodded her head.

"That's when I first contacted Gen. Ironwood about the possibility of an alliance, to free the Clave from solitude." Explained Zcholts.

"What do we do?" Asked Lexy.

"We question the General about this. Let's go, now!" Said Nickel.

The team shot up out of the seats, left some money on the table, and left the see the General. The father and son were left at the table as the waitress came around and collected the mountains of dishes.

"They think I should be worried about you." Said the father to his son. "But just listen to you, making all these connections and sound theories based on your instincts and wits. Makes me proud to be your father, you know that right?"

Ashton smiled. "I'm only as good as I am because of how you raised me. And I'm proud to be your son."

The two of them sat in silence with smiles on their faces. They both knew it would be a very long time before they would be able to eat together like this again.

"Ha-ha. Gay."

The two Claves looked toward the source of the comment. Next to the door, stood wearing her true face, was Indigo. She smirked at the two of them as the warriors rose to their feet.

"Have you two met my new friend?" She said smiling before she ran out of the restaurant and into the street.

The two warriors picked up their weapons and shot off after her. Leaving the General's secretary, who had missed the entire conversation due to the depths of her food coma, behind faced down on the table.

"Don't eat the spray." She mumbled.

The warriors were in pursuit of the evasive target, and they both were trying to understand what she meant by, 'met my new friend?' Was she admitting that she abducted Markus? They would soon have their answer as she stopped the town centre. They were in the central plaza. The orange glow of the setting sun shimmered though the large water fountain in the middle of the plaza.

"So what's your name?" Asked Zcholts. "A pretty thing like you, I bet it's something real colourful."

"How perceptive. My name is Indigo. Nice to make your acquaintance."

"I take it that we don't need to introduce ourselves?" He asked.

"They young prodigy of the Clave and his father the colonel of lightning. I know you both quit well now. And your comrade in arms; Markus."

Open hearing his name, Zcholts slightly gritted his teeth. But Ashton was more curious. After saying his name, Indigo's eyes widened and she gave a blank stare as if she was reading.

"Oh that's too juicy." She said with a smile on her face. "Haunted, are we Colonel?"

Zcholts' eyes widened and his mouth gaped open. Sparks started arcing between his fingers as his grip around the sword tightened.

"Dad, what is she talking about?"

"Your father the failed guardian." Mocked Indigo; answering Ashton's question. "No wonder he's so happy at the moment. He feels like 'his' dream has come true. It was never at all the dream of your dear father, the Colone..."

Indigo's mind game was halted when she had to black flip to evade a horizontal slash from Ashton's sword.

"My father and the word 'failure' never belong in the same sentence!" Yelled Ashton.

"No?" She smiled and stared in to Zcholts' eyes.

"Now tell us, what happened to Markus?!" Demanded Ashton. "We won't ask second time!"

A chilling wind blew past the standoff, coming from the large water fountain. The wind was followed by the clear sound of ringing steel, as a wall of ice erected between the two swordsmen of Clave. The wall was three floors high, reached the buildings on the other end of the plaza and the ice was pitch black. If it wasn't so threatening, with the reflection of the setting Sun, it could almost be deemed beautiful. Ashton snapped out of his awe and looked back around to Indigo, who had taken that opportunity to make herself scarce. A purple glow started emanating from the side of the fountain. Ashton raised his sword in a defensive stance, ready for whatever the light may reveal. Markus stepped out with his new weapon at a short spear's length, spinning it around the fingers of one hand.

"Markus?! What happened to you?"

"The reality of the main household hit me. I could never be good enough for the elitists of the castle with the strength I had. But now I have new strength. And I'm going to use it to bring you down, Ashton Clave!" Markus stopped talking and launched an attack straight at Ashton, by jumping in the air and extending the spearhead straight for his target.

At the last moment Ashton dodged, and saw how the point where spear met ground, an ice bolder formed. Ashton didn't move to far away though, and noticed that the point of the spear was embedded within the ice. Ashton quickly placed his hand on the bolder and began to weigh it down. Ashton looked up to keep an eye on his attacker, and saw the smile that had grown across his face. The purple bands around Markus all gave a glowing light and Ashton looked back to his hand to see it had also been encased in ice. Markus pulled his spear from the ice, retracting it to a more manoeuvrable size, before landing and launching himself straight at Ashton, with his spear primed for his neck.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the wall, Zcholts was shouting with his hands either side of his mouth.

"Ashton, are you ok!"

"He'll be a little busy to reply. If he can hear you, that is." Said Indigo from behind.

The Colonel turned to see his opponent. "So then I have the pleasure of your company all to myself, then. Fine with me. I just have to test one thing first." He said.

A moment of silence bathed the area as the two adversaries stood unmoving.

"Hahahaha! That's filthy!" Screamed Indigo with tears in her eyes.

"Knew it. You can read minds!" Said the cunning joker.

"You are a clever bunny. Now then, how would a Clave fight someone like me? I'm dying to find out." She said with a smile on her face and a hand on her waist.

The Colonel raised his claymore sword with a single hand and pointed it at his target. The weapon split along its two edges revealing a rod going down the centre, which started to glow yellow before releasing a bolt of lightning. The strike point kicked up a lot of dust on its impact but it started to settle and a large purple rune was left behind. The rune faded away, unveiling the unharmed Indigo behind it.

"An attack too fast to dodge, huh. Can't say I've had to face many of them in my time." Smiled the cocky female. "What have you got next for me?"

Zcholts held his sword above his head and drew it down in the direction of Indigo, and the weapon let loose another beam of lightning. This one, however, was shaped like a sword slash instead of a focused laser. As it travelled to its target it carved into the floor, leaving a trail of wrecked brick and tearing pipes from the ground. He followed up this attack with a second, third and forth. Each one decimating the ground on its way to its target.

From the cloud of dust surrounding Indigo, a voice said loudly, "Wind!" And summoned a swirling current of air which dispersed the dust with a mini tornado that danced around her on a rune which it was using as a platform. She then raised her hand and with it aimed at Zcholts called out, "Earth!" And just like that clumps of rock and stones which had been knocked out of the ground, all started to lift of the ground and fly towards Zcholts.

The colonel evaded a few and slashed at others, splitting them into pieces. However they all just turned and came back at him. Almost as if he was the centre of gravity to them. The debris assault caused him to duck, flip, summersault and jump to avoid them. But he was still looking for his opportunity the counterattack. He waited and evaded until a big enough bolder to obscure Indigo's view blocked her eye-line. He then raised his sword and released another lightning bolt, which blasted through the bolder and shot towards Indigo. The debris came to a stop and scattered on the floor all around Zcholts. The dust from the last bolt started to settle, but to his surprise, Zcholts couldn't see Indigo.

"Earth!" She announced as the once settled rocks all flew up, struck Zcholts from every direction and clung to him to restrict his movements.

The source of Indigo's voice was from above. She landed back on the ground and said "TA-DAH!" Rubbing her skills in the Colonel's face.

"How did you do that?" Asked Zcholts whist straining from the rocks trying to crush his bones.

"Hello, I can read minds." Said in a familiar mocking tone. "I could hear you thinking about the timing of your strike, and when the bolder obscured my view of you, it did the same to your view of me. All I had to do then was jump straight up, and I was able to trick you into letting down your guard with the stone act."

She slowly stated walking towards her captive with her hand holding a small, Palm sized, glyph which produced a sphere of water. As she walked closer she lowered her hand to her side and let loose, a small high pressure jet of water struck the ground and cut through bricks, rocks and pipes which had become exposed from Zcholts' earlier attacks. She stopped the jet, and aimed the sphere of water at Zcholts' head.

"At ease, Colonel." She said menacingly.

A loud explosion could be heard which distracted Indigo and Zcholts for a moment. The source of the noise was from the other side of the wall. The ice bolder which had trapped Ashton's hand, exploded and free to move he evaded Markus' attack. Puzzled at what just happened, Markus hesitated to launch a second attack and instead examined his opponent. The shrapnel of ice from the explosion, caused damage to Ashton's entire right side. It made sense as it was his right hand that was encased, but how did he do it in the first place?

'I see...' Markus thought to himself. 'His glove is down one dust stripe. He must have super heated the ice from the inside creating a steep rise in internal pressure.'

'That was a lot more risk then I would have liked.' Thought Ashton. 'That was like holding a grenade as it goes off in my hand.' Ashton discreetly squeezed his right hand into a first, examining it for damages. 'Only two of my bones are broken, so I can still use the hand, but if I have to do that again with this hand, God only knows what'll happen. The forces of that blast would have made me lose my arm if I didn't focus my entire aura into it.'

"Taking risks, are we?" Mocked Markus. "Two minutes in and you're already in worse shape than the end of our last fight."

"Yeah, but you have a pretty big weakness to your attacks."

"Oh yeah, like what?"

"Pay attention and you'll find out." Said Ashton as he drew Moonshine and aimed straight at Markus.

Markus stabbed the floor, which created a smaller ice wall to defend him against the bullet. The round blasted a large chunk of ice from the shield, but it was stopped. Another gunshot was sounded from above Markus. Ashton used the cover of his shield as a blind spot to jump in the air without notice. Markus pointed his spear at his shield and managed to dodge the bullet by extending the spear's handle, propelling him away. Ashton landed on the ground as Markus started swinging his spear at changing lengths.

'The air around Markus is getting colder and colder.' Thought Ashton. 'And his weapon is producing a trail, much like Starburn. But there's more to it than that. What are the purposes of the purple glyph bands and why hasn't he used his semblance yet? It's almost like this ice is his semblance now, but it feels more like a dust charged weapon.'

Markus stopped his acrobatic display and, around the tip of his spear, a blade made of black ice formed. But just as he did so, the purple bands of his started to flicker. Markus adopted a side on stance as his hand discreetly vanished behind him for a moment, and just like that, the flickering bands became solid again as his returned his hand to his spears handle.

'What was that? Did he just... Recharge himself? Great!' Thought Ashton, frustrated. 'If he has returned to the state he was in at the start of this fight he could create enough ice to make another ice wall like the one separating dad and me. I need to get whatever he's using to refuel himself away from him or this will never end. At least, not in any way I'd like.'

Ashton stabbed Starburn into the ground and pulled the grappling blade from the handle. Ashton pulled all 80 meters of cable from the sword until he felt a snag, telling him that he had its full length. Ashton then looped one piece of cable around his left hand and began to swing the hooked blade in meter wide circles around his head. The small blade whistled as it cut the air, and as it did so, it started to glow; as the main blade often did until it burst into flames.

"Round 2?" Asked Ashton.

"Fight!" Said Markus in a dramatic tone.

Indigo was winded. All of the stones holding Zcholts in place somehow fired away from him. And in their path, some struck indigo in her stomach, chest and legs and flung her away from her former captive before she could land her winning blow.

"The fuck was that?!" She angrily question.

"My body emits an electrical charge." Explained the Colonel. "If I use my aura, I can give the things I touch a charge too. So you tell me, what happens when two items are both positively charged? You'll just read my mind so I'll say it anyway. They repel each other." He smiled with a rock floating in his hand.

"Isn't there something else you're forgetting to say out loud about your abilities?" She asked, hinting that the answer was yes. "Using your ability puts your body under a huge strain. So a long fight doesn't really appeal to you, or your son, and I'm just here to stall you."

"What?!" Said Zcholts; still unaware of the fight that was taking place on the other side of the wall, with the earlier explosion being the only sign that there was anything happening at all. "So you're targeting both of us. In that case, I'm afraid I need to speed things up."

Zcholts pulled a vile of dust powder from his jacket pocket and fitted it to the end of his sword's hilt. A *click* could be heard, and the yellow dust started to glow as did the central rod of his sword.

"I only use this in emergencies or to fore fill my sworn value."

"And that would be?" Asked indigo.

"The value of Bankai. To protect those who are precious. And you have come between two of those people and me!"

His tone signalled the end of the Colonel's patients. His sword became bathed in the yellow lightning and his eyes started to glow the same colour. Up until now, he had been holding his sword with one hand, but what was coming required two. He gripped the handle of his blade with both hands above his head.

'He's aiming to kill me with this attack!' Thought Indigo. 'His aura, mixed perfectly with that entire vile of dust to help him charge his blade, but he's still putting his heart through a massive strain! This could kill him, but as long as he kills me, he doesn't seem to care! I've got to stop him!'

"Earth!" She shouted.

More debris from all directions flew towards Zcholts. But every bit of brick, stone, rock and pebble seemed to get zapped when they got close to him, like flies.

"Water!"

She raised both hands and pointed her palms at her target. A large ball of water appeared and shot a high pressure jet straight at him. However, it vaporized due to the electrical energy in the air before making its mark.

"FUCK! FIRE!" She screamed in frustration.

She created a glyph under Zcholts, but the column of flames that she was trying to summon never caught fire.

'What the hell is going on with my fire?' She asked herself. 'Wait, it's the fucking ice wall! The sheer cold of the wall isn't letting the air get hot enough for it to catch! And if I try and make it hotter, I could melt a section of the ice and he could interfere with his Ashton's fight with Markus.'

"You exhausted your options, haven't you?" Said Zcholts, breaking her from her frustrated trance. "You can't get an attack, throw or break my concentration. If I didn't have as much experience as I do you might've been able to do so. But having fought and trained for decades, it's given me absolute focus. Once I've counted down from 5, my attack will strike you with the force of 32 bolts of lightning. There is no way to dodge it, defend against it or deflect it. But feel free to try. These next 5 seconds are your last."

A terror sank into Indigo and the chill of death breathed down her spine.

'Fuck! What do I do?'

"5" started Zcholts.

"Earth!" Indigo summoned walls as barriers between him and her. 'If he can't see me he won't be able to know that I've move... Wait... why won't my legs move?!' She looked down to see sparks travelling up her legs.

"4"

'When did that happen?! Wait, the pipes I cut into earlier and were torn up from his attacks at the start, they were water pipes. These sparks that paralyze must be his reason for never missing.'

"3"

'Why didn't I read this in his mind earlier? Of course, the fucking idiot would have no idea that these pipes work like this!'

"2"

'Random luck! Are you serious?! I need to make more walls!' "Earth!" She screams making even more, thicker walls.

"1"

"Glyph's shield!" Screamed Indigo, bringing up her last line of defence. A circle of intense, bright purple light.

"0! Nibus' Judgment!" Called Zcholts.

The world was bathed in a flash of yellow, which lasted a fraction of a second. Indigo turn to look behind her, and saw Zcholts stood with his sword across his shoulders and hand on his hip. It was the usual pose for Aston, and probably where he got it from. She then turned back and saw that one by one, her stone walls and glyph shield started to crumble from what looked like a vertical slash. Everything that had been slashed seemed to just return to dust, as the last of the sunlight faded and nothing but a chilling breeze blew past.

"The Nibus' Judgment strikes with so many bolts in such a short space of time that it effects what it strikes on an atomic level. My sword slash aims it, and the lightning itself separates all that the blade cuts." Zcholts turned and walked past her, towards the wall. "Don't worry, you won't feel a thing. The first thing to go is the nerves. And you'll die as soon as your muscles start to atomize."

"I couldn't feel anything anyway." She said, causing the Colonel to turn around to see her menacing smile. "This body has been dead for a while, but it was good learning about you and your Ashton." A slash appeared directly down her middle. "I look forward to the day I get to pick his brain, like I picked Markus'." And just like her stone walls, her body started to fall into dust. But before it did her face seemed to atomize first, revealing the face of a young woman who Zcholts didn't recognize.

'A possession?' Zcholts thought. 'Everything about this feels like 'that night'. The fact that they seem to be interested in Ashton is more than off putting. But one problem at a time. I have to bring down this wall and help Ash... HHNNKK!'

Zcholts collapsed to his knees and started to vomit blood."Damn! My heart!... It's not beating!" He said straining from the agony in his chest. He collapsed to his side as his body numbed and his eyes darkened. "Damn." He said as his consciousness left him.

Ashton and Markus' battle raged on as they both dynamically launched and evaded each other's attacks. Ashton swinging his hook blade was looking to make contact with whatever part of Markus' body, clothes or spear that he could. But Markus was able to keep him at a distance with his spear attacks, ice defences and athletic movements. Both of them were exhausted and had torn clothes from constant near misses. Ashton has used all but 3 of his dust charges, and Markus has needed to recharge his aura twice. But how many more times could he be recharged? Many of Markus' limits were still a mystery to Ashton, but the limits to his weapon were something Ashton was able to clearly analyze.

'His maximum range is approximately 4.15 meters, and his minimum is about 20 centimetres. The speed of his weapons extension and retraction is around15 mps (meters per second) and it does so with the force of 20 psi (pounds per square inch), more than enough to pierce through a person but not enough to puncture medium or heavy armour. His ability with this black ice seems to be like my dad's lightning. He's the true source, but his weapon is a conduit for it. Direct contact to him or his spear gives him the chance to freeze things, but it takes a few seconds for the cold to spread to other things, so secondary contact is safe but not for long. And finally, whenever I try to weigh things down he creates a shell of ice which gets weighted and crumbles off.'

Ashton's assessment was interrupted by an all consuming flash of light that lasted for a split second. Both the warriors stopped fighting, but maintained a defensive stance, while they worked out what the source was.

'Was that dad's Nibus' Judgment?' Thought Ashton. 'If he used that, it means that whoever he was fighting was a real threat and had him on the ropes. But now he could be in real danger. Usually he has someone nearby that can revive him. That's it, this wall is coming down!'

Ashton threw his grapple blade above Markus, causing him to jump backwards to dodge. Ashton used this opportunity to place his hand on the ice coated floor, rapidly heat it up, and cause a smokescreen of steam to fog the area. Ashton then retracted the grappling blade into his sword handle, before shooting it into the centre of the wall and using his ninth dust charge to rapidly heat the weapon. This blew a massive chunk from the centre of the wall, however, the damage to the wall didn't stop it from still standing strong.

'Crap! I've only got one charge left!' Thought Ashton. 'If I get hit by another attack, I won't be able to break out. But if I don't get to dad, he could die!' Ashton turns to check that he wasn't about to get attacked. 'The mist is thinning, what do I do?!'

The sound of multiple strikes hitting the top of the wall rang out, and Ashton looked up to see several cables anchored into the top of the wall which all led to the same point. At the top of a building, Lexy stood with her cables leading up to a winch. In one hand she held the control box; in the other was her scroll.

She then held her scroll up to her mouth and said, "Heave-ho." And started the winch.

With the groaning of the winch as it added more and more tension into the cables, the cracks from Ashton's earlier attack deepened and grew. Markus' attention was also of Lexy and the cables, she was never one for subtlety.

'All that will do it deepen those cracks, but I can put an end to that.' Thought Markus as he ran straight for the wall, where the crack originated. 'All I have to do is re-freeze the wall, and the cracks will close.'

Markus then used his spear as a pole-volt to launch himself up the wall. He was just feet away from making contact when...

"Shadow Strike!"

... An enormous, dark, shadowy fist punched through, shattering the ice and making direct contact with Markus. Car sized chunks of ice littered the plaza. The rain of boulders forced Ashton to cleave the ones that otherwise would have crushed him, but the wall was down and he knew that the reinforcements would change up the rest of this fight.

Darkness washed over the city, as the sun was finally down and the night provided its starry veil. Ashton jumped through the opening in the wall as street lights flickered on, illuminating the area. On the other side, Teal and Nickel were catching their breath after launching their largest attack combo yet. Behind them Zcholts was lying on the ground with Kyte stood over him. Kyte was covering Zcholts' whole body in the light from his palms.

"Dad?! Is he ok?" Asked Ashton, clearly distressed.

"Don't worry, I've got him stable." Said Kyte.

"I don't get it. Is your light healing him?" Ashton asked.

"What, did you just think my semblance just flashed people? You're worse than my sister." Mocked Kyte. "My light scans people and gives me the current status. When we first got to your dad he just launched this really incredible attack..."

"That was his Nibus' Judgment. We've told him time and time again not to use that alone. His semblance messes with his heart and the bigger the more damaging." Explained Ashton.

"Well you were right to be worried. It stopped his heart and damaged the blood vessels around his lungs. My light has already repaired his lungs and his heart started again as soon as his aura got a boost. It seems like his own semblance stopped and restarted his ticker."

"Thank you, everyone. I'm glad you got here when you did." Said a heartfelt Ashton. "But where is the Ginodi? My Dad was fighting her."

"She was struck by that attack your dad got in bad shape for using. That's what's left of her." Said Teal as he pointed to a pile of ashes.

"I see. It's unfortunate that we couldn't get her alive, but if my dad needed to put her down. she must have been quite fight."

"As to the other enemy." Started Nickel. "We've been getting filled in by Lexy on your fight, so we pretty much know how this guy moves and attacks. But is there anything that you found out about him that we could do with knowing?"

"His ice semblance seems to be connected to the purple bands around his wrists, ankles and head. I also believe that it is dust fuelled. I've made him recharge twice, and when he does recharge, he seems to place his hand in a small belt mounted satchel to do so. That bag should be our number 1 target." Ashton continued his brief.

'Why can't I beat him?' Markus was lying on the ground, surrounded in a field of ice and shrouded in their frosty mist. 'This is my only way of getting back at them for what they've done... Smashing my family into pieces. So why am I so hesitant?'

"Because you're hell bent on disappointing me."

Markus looks to a figure next to him. The mist parted and revealed the silhouette of a woman speaking with his mother's voice.

"You know that you have no other way of getting even with the main family. This is it, and you know what needs to be done. So why don't you? Is it that you've forgotten?"

"Forgotten? What?" He asked the phantom.

"You have! That night your father left for his duty, protecting the main household's brats, was the last time you saw him alive. But you also saw how he died!"

"What? No, how could I have? I was at home with you! After dinner fell asleep next to the fire!"

"No. You woke up next to the fire. You lost consciousness in the forest."

"What? How did I... Why was I in the forest?"

"Think back. That night has been coated in darkness and hidden in your mind for fifteen years."

A fogged memory started to force its way into the front of Markus' mind. In the woodland area of the Clave's Grimm hunting grounds, a young Markus looked up at a sight which chilled him to the core. A vision of his father ran through, on a blade of yellow lightning. The ice and snow of the shattered moonlit night froze him in place, as he watched his father's lifeless body slide off the sword and reveal the face of the man who murdered him.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

**Clave's Past part 2/2**

The vision of his father's murderer burned deep into Markus' mind. Droplets of blood ran down the monster's face as he pulled his blade from his victim's chest. This creature, no longer a man, let out a roar into the night and Markus' vision deserted him. The warrior awoke from his trance and rose to his feet. Looking through the frost fog, he stared towards the remains of his wall.

"Look out guys, he's up." Reported Lexy, who was keeping a close eye.

The fog started to clear and one by one, Ashton and team NKTL came into view. Markus was clearly at a disadvantage, being out numbered five to one and being exhausted to boot. His attention was then drawn to the back of the group. A member of the newcomers with a light producing semblance, but what was he bathing in that light.

"Ok, he'll be fine. But he's not ready for battle yet." Said Kyte, as he deactivated his semblance.

The figure bathed in light was revealed and Markus felt the same chill that he did when he saw his father die in front of him. His attention was focused directly on the injured Colonel. His heart pounded in his chest as his hands started to shake. His grip tightened around the handle of his spear and his breathing became erratic.

"ZCHOLTS!" He roared.

And even though they outnumbered him, the team and Ashton couldn't help but feel a little fear as they raised their weapons to the ready.

'Wait. Why did he yell out dad's name?' Thought Ashton to himself. "Kyte, I know I'm not your team leader but please, stay by my father for this."

Kyte looked over to Nickel, who stared at the back of Ashton and saw that his hand was trembling. Nickel then looked back to Kyte and gave him a nod.

"Ok, Ashton. I won't leave his side." Replied Kyte.

"Thank you." Said Ashton as he gripped his sword tightly.

Markus was now in an overwhelming rage, pulled off his satchel and reached inside it to pull out his last two dust crystals. He then threw his empty satchel away and gripped the crystals, one in each hand. The crystals were black, but as he squeezed them in his hands, the bands around his wrists started the shine brightly. Next the band around his head glowed too, as did the ones around his ankles which you could tell from holes torn in his trousers. Slowly the colour drained out of the crystals reducing them to clear glass like gems. On a nearby lamppost, a crow gentle landed and continued to survey the fight. And in a darkened room in an unknown location, a screen was showing all that the crow was seeing.

"Now we'll get a show." Said a mysterious man on a chair; watching the screen with the utmost concentration.

"Do you mean you didn't enjoy watching me, nearly getting killed?" Said Indigo as she took a seat next to the man. "If I wasn't inhabiting one of your drones, that would have been lights out for dear old Indy."

The man's eyes never left the screen. The light of which shone on his half open, black, baggy eyes. He let out a sigh from Indigo's comment.

"'Nearly', 'would have been', words like that bore me half to death. Things are only entertaining when it's all the way. As for that drone, it took me so long to get a corpse of that quality, get it to look like you and cram your perverted soul into it. Not to mention squeezing the last inhabitant out of it."

"You really don't do anything but complain, don't you?"

"Shh... You're talking over the experiment."

Indigo's attention turned to the screen, where she saw Markus draining the colour from the two crystals.

"I thought I told him not to over absorb the dust. He's gonna blow himself out."

"Shh."

The skin of Markus' hands, forearms, forehead, face, ankles and shins started to fade black as if frost bite was laying claim to them. Even the bands of glyphs were turning black from the level of energy.

"What's happening to him?" Asked Teal.

"I'm not sure." Answered Ashton. "The only thing I can compare it to is an aura spike. But in that case the aura is released in such a massive quantity, that the body can't hold together and burns from the inside out."

"Yeah." Agreed Nickel. "This looks like an exterior energy forcing its way in, with those glyphs being the middle man."

"So how do we stop him?" Asked Teal.

"Well if it was an aura spike, I would suggest knocking him out. But that won't work in this situation." Said Ashton.

"Why not?" Asked Teal.

"An aura spike is, as the name suggests, the aura going out of control. The act of knocking him out would be difficult, but would reduce his aura to a safe background level." Explained Ashton. "But as Nickel said, this is a foreign energy in his body."

"So, what would you suggest?" Asked Nickel.

Ashton paused for a moment as he quickly looked around at everyone who he had to hand. Their weapons, fighting styles, combo attacks and semblances that they could use in this scenario. The fact that Lexy was at an elevated position, Kyte was guarding over his father and the battle ground was covered in blocks of ice. And finally, Markus' body and its changes. The fact that the dust has given him a new semblance with the help of the glyphs. That the crystals were black like the ice he produced, and that he could channel this power through direct contact or secondary contact. The time it would take for him to burn through one crystal and by that calculating the time the power of two, plus what was left in his system, would take to die down.

He looked back to his father and thought to himself, 'If you were up you'd have already answered this, wouldn't you? I know that, if possible, we need to take him alive. But you were put in a position in which you had the take out who you were fighting with extreme prejudice. Meaning that if I don't get the information from Markus we could be attacked again. I could get attacked when I'm travelling alone or they could try and infiltrate and attack the Clave castle.' Ashton once again focused on Markus, who was still roaring Zcholts' name. 'And just what did you do to have this guy this mad at you?'

**15 years ago **

In the outskirts of Markus' home village, his father, Rick, was making his way to his security point for the trail of blades and shades when he heard a familiar tune. A lilting song; whistled by someone nearby. Rick changed his direction and headed for the source of the melody. The song lead him through the forest towards a small clearing in the woodland. Rick then joined in with the whistling, adding to its calming tones and relaxing notes.

"That note is off." Pointed out Rick.

"It always has been." Said Zcholts, who emerged from a shadowy tree top. "How have you been, Monty?"

"Zcholts, it Rick now, remember?"

"Fine, fine. Jeez, you're as fussy as ever." Zcholts commented.

"Well if I didn't have such a forgetful younger brother, I wouldn't need to be so fussy." Replied Rick.

"So, 'Rick Riddick...'" Zcholts gestured with air quotes, "...How have you been keeping?"

"Free." He answered with a smile on his face. "Markus is now 3 and a half and is always up to mischief. The little shadow follows me nearly everywhere. Gina just turned two and she's such a smarty-pants already. And then there's the new news. Hayla's pregnant again. We just might catch up to you and Kate yet. Hahaha."

"Hahaha." Zcholts laughed along with his brother. "Congrats!"

"And what's new with you?" Asked Rick.

"Well let's see..." Zcholts paused for a moment and played all of the things that have happened since his last chat with his brother. "Starting from the top. Kate is now the second in command with the communication division."

"Oh, wow. So she can get in your head, huh? You'll have to watch out for all that flirting you do."

"Yeah, haha." Zcholts laughed nervously. "But then there's the kids, and they're all excelling in their passions as well. The twins, Orlan and Ikon, are 12 years old now, and are going through their aura/semblance training. Get this, their semblances get stronger the closer they are to each other. Edward is turning into a proper little tactician. I mean, he's 9 and is reading 'The Art of War'. He's still got his childish habits though. Whenever he sees a flaw or weak point in a historic battle strategy, he says 'Ed found it!'"

"And what of your youngest? Ashton should be the same age as my Markus, right?"

"Yep, he's 3. Only just though. But even so, his coordination with a wooden sword is amazing. It's like it's just an extension of his arm. As for Uri... Well, we're here for his trail of blades and shades, aren't we. He is only 15 and this is his first attempt, so I keep telling him not to be too hard on himself if he doesn't pass it this time."

"What's his weapon of choice?" Asked Rick.

"Oh, you should see it. He has been practicing to smith the weapon he'll wield, after he passes this trial, for months. Modelled on the weapon of Bankai, he made a sword that starts as a single, double edged sword, which can either unfold to become twice as long or it can split into two single edged blades. I can remember looking at that design, back when we were forging weapons."

"Wonderful! I'm glad that my nephews are all doing so well. Have they put any thoughts into the value they'll carry?"

"Only Uri has really thought about it so far. And he picked the same as you. The value of Oum. To keep moving forward, no matter the circumstances." Answered Zcholts.

"Ha, really? Well then you've got someone who has picked a path of dedication, but make sure he also knows which battles are winnable in the first place. It took me years to work that out."

A flare shot into the sky, signalling the start of the trial and brought the brothers catch-up to an end.

"Is that the time already? I guess we should move into position." Said Zcholts as he looked up towards the red trail flying through the sky.

The two brothers started to run through the woodland and with no passing words, just small smirks, their pace started to get quicker and quicker until they were full blown racing. Ducking and jumping low tree branches, the brothers were reminiscent of their childhood memories. With neither one of them pulling ahead, they saw the clearing ahead which was their surveillance point. They both saw it as the chequered flag of their race and so pulled out the stops, slashing at tree branches instead of dodging. And as they both entered the clearing, they stabbed their weapons into the ground as a make shift hand brake.

"One of these days, you should try and beat me." Mocked Rick as he panted for breath.

"Like you can talk! You sound like you're about to collapse, and it couldn't have been any further than 1,500 meters!" Snapped Zcholts.

"Now wait a second. Is the winner of a race the person who crosses the line first, or the person who doesn't need to breathe heavy at the end?"

"Fine. But if it was further!..."

"Then I would be panting more... And still in first."

The sibling rivalry was then interrupted by the cry of a nearby Grimm.

"The heck was that? That didn't sound like any Beowolf or Ursa cry I've ever heard." Said Zcholts.

"Me neither. Should we try and find it? I mean, it might need documenting."

"Well it looks like we don't need to look far." Said Zcholts Ashe raised a finger and pointed it towards the shadowy tree line that was shaped by the exquisite moonlight.

**Present day**

"So that's the plan. Do you copy?" Nickel asked Lexy via their scrolls.

Lexy was still on the top of the building, at the opposite end of the plaza, and keeping an eye on roaring Markus.

"I get it, but are you sure it's gonna work? I mean it sounds like a 'one shot wonder' kinda plan." She replied.

"Ashton came up with it. And seeing as it's him, and he's taking most of the risk, we just need to make sure we hold up our part." Answered Nickel, as he looked over his shoulder to Ashton, who was laying a glyph along the opening in the wall.

Now that everything was set, with Kyte on one side of the ice wall, Ashton, Teal and Nickel on the other, and Markus between them and Lexy, the stage was set.

"Now, no matter what, stick to the plan." Ordered Aston.

At this point, the clear crystals that Markus was squeezing as he screamed began to crack and then smashed to dust in his hands. Markus' roars were then reduced to growls, as he fixed his attention forward and could only think about getting to Zcholts. The words of his mother were just drops in the ocean of what was driving his blood lust now. He then picked up his weapon, and held it at the ready.

"And stage one, begin!" Announced Ashton.

Lexy started by firing several kunai toeing wires at Markus' back, which he was able to hear as they cut the air. Markus deflected them by spinning his spear and knocking them from their path. Ashton then open fired rounds from Moonshine, making Markus raise an ice shield to defend himself. Everyone could then tell that the quality of Markus' ice had changed. Gun fire would have at least blown chunks from the shield earlier, but now they were merely bouncing off. Next a combo attack from Teal and Nickel.

"Shadow slam!" Shouted Nickel.

Nickel thrust an open palm towards Markus and his ice shield, slamming the shield into Markus with a giant shadowy palm. This forced Markus into the wires of the kunai that Lexy had fired at him. But before she could do anything to keep him under control, he sent a frosty cold up the wires and shattered them like strands of glass. He then skewed his own ice shield, spun it around his body and launched it across the plaza at Nickel and Teal, forcing them to dive out of the way. However, they did so in opposite directions. Nickel was first to regain his balance and fired two shadowy punches at Markus, who used his extending spear to stop the attack by piercing them before they could make contact.

Lexy then fired another volley of kunai and wires, and Markus span his spear behind him to instinctively deflect them without looking, this time keeping his eyes on Ashton, who had leapt into the air and fired his grapple blade down at Markus. Markus dodged the attack by slightly stepping back, and then grabbed the cable leading from the blade. And with contact made, Markus proceeded to encase the grapple blade in ice and freeze the cable leading up to Ashton as he fell from the air. Markus face donned a toothy smile as his cold rose to the biggest hurdle that lay between him and the helpless Zcholts. Ashton however didn't seem to be worried, for just as planned, Lexy aimed another kunai at Ashton. She launched it just below Ashton so that as he fell his blade would make contact with the wire and the sudden massive amount of friction brought the blade to flames, halting the black ices progression. Still on the decent, Ashton blade was primed at Markus, who stood at the ready with a layer of ice over his weapon. However, a large explosion from the side blew Markus clear.

"He got him!" Cheered Teal. "But how did that work again?"

Nickel ran to his usual position, in front of Teal, and started to explain. "Ashton said that earlier, he got his hand caught in ice and freed himself by super heating it from inside. The heat caused a build-up of pressure from within the ice which eventually caused it to explode. He was pretty lucky that his arm survived intact. And the same kinda thing happened just now, except that instead of his arm, his grapple blade was at the centre of the explosion."

"Oh. So the friction that heated the main blade from Lexy's wire was enough to heat the grapple blade as well?"

"Yeah, but the pressure needed longer to build up because of how much denser the ice is. But on the flip side, it made a bigger boom." Explained Nickel.

"Be ready, guys. I don't think it's over yet." Said Ashton as he returned to his starting position and reeled in his cable and grapple.

Markus rose to his feet. His left arm was cut up and bleeding from the explosion. It was obvious to everyone that he had used it as a last second shield. The sounds of him grinding his teeth could be heard from across the plaza. His bloodlust had reasserted itself and the glyph bands were still just as prominent, with no sign of his power dropping.

"Zcholts! You will pay! Do you hear me Zcholts?!" Howled Markus.

Kyte looked at Zcholts and saw his eyelids quiver and eventually open.

"Don't move." Said Kyte. "You've had a pretty strong heart attack. We just about got to you in time."

"Ash.. Ashton. Where is he?" He asked straining to talk.

"He's working with the rest of my team to take down Markus. But so far it's looking pretty even. They managed to hit him with one pretty strong attack, but this Markus guy seems hell bent on trying to get to you. Don't worry though. We're not gonna let him anywhere near you." Said Kyte, as he raised a hand towards Ashton and let out three short blasts of light.

Seeing the signal, Ashton lets out a sigh of relief. "It looks like my dad has woke up."

"Good." Says Teal.

"Should we extract him?" Asked Nickel

"As much as he could use a hospital, Markus needs all of us to bring him down. And dad, for whatever reason, seems to be the focus of his rage. But it is time for stage two."

Ashton looked towards the glyph that was plugging the whole which lead to the vulnerable Zcholts, and it started to flicker and fade showing that its effectiveness was nearly up.

"We've only got 30 more seconds! Everyone, we need to bring him down!" Shouted Ashton.

The team and Ashton stood ready, with weapons primed. Markus stopped his roaring, and squeeze his spear turning the blade itself black. A mystical sparkling could be seen all around Markus. His whole body was so cold he was freezing water droplets in midair. His skin made him look as though he was a dead man who rose for vengeance. He then quickly spun his spear above his head, slammed the tip on the floor, and froze the entire floor of the plaza. Everyone except Lexy, who was still atop a building, had to jump in the air to avoid freezing too. The incoming tide of ice was stopped by Markus' own wall, from the start of the fight, and so Zcholts and Kyte were luckily out of the attack's reach.

**15 years earlier**

From the shaded tree line emerged a Beowulf with a strange presents. The moonlight showed off its massive size and armour clad arms and legs. But what's more, it seemed to be producing a dark haze around its body. Almost as if it was decaying while still alive. The strange Grimm blankly stared at the two warriors, sizing them up. Unusual behaviour for a Beowolf. It would be more characteristic if it were to run and straight at the two brothers and try to disembowelling them. But this strange creature was just staring at them.

"Is that... Intelligence?" Asked Rick.

"Either that or it's a very good impression of intelligence." Answered Zcholts.

"What should we do? I mean the main family could learn something from this behaviour." Rick pointed out.

"You're right." Agreed Zcholts. "We should try to capture it."

The two brothers slowly raised their weapons and walked slowly and cautiously towards the Grimm, who continued to watch and study the brothers. The made it about halfway through the forest clearing when the Beowulf made a slight change of movement. It raised its head and started looking in different directions around the perimeter of the clearing. The brothers halted their advance, as they both knew something was amiss. The Beowulf returned its gaze the warriors and let out a small growl followed by a loud howl to the moon.

"Quickly! Back to back!" Said Rick as he turned on the spot; giving them full view of the forest tree line.

All around them, dozens of eyes revealed their red glow. The background noise of wind through leaves and insect songs was soon replaced with a chorus of growls and snarls.

"This is the biggest Beowulf pack I've ever seen." Said Zcholts. "And they all were waiting for the signal from that big guy."

"He's obviously the pack leader." Pointed out Rick. "But this is set up like an actual thought out strategy or, at the very least, a well laid out trap. The new specimen as the bait, the clearing made a location that we can't retreat from. I say we take down the pack and still try for the capture."

"Well then, first things first." Said Zcholts as he gripped his swords handle with both hands, unfolding the blade down the edge of its two sides and revealing its central rod. "Let's cut down the pack."

The pack leader let out a signalling snarl and bark, instructing the attack from all angles. The brothers took a stride away from each other, ensuring that they were out of each other's range. Zcholts threw slashes of lightning, cutting down several Grimm with each slash, while his brother allowed the Grimm a lot closer. And just as they were about to make contact with their claws, Rick span with such quick, precise moments, that he resembled a small hurricane of blades and tore all close enemies to pieces.

'It's been a long time since I've seen it, but his semblance is amazing.' Thought Zcholts as he admired his brother; dispatching Grimm with ease. 'The aftermath semblance. Anything he hits is first struck with his regular force, which is then followed by a second impact of the same amount of force. So if he was to strike his target with a sword and cut half way through it, half a second later the same amount of force would land and cause the blade to cleave right the way through. From a defensive stand point, it means that if he lands an attack of medium and weaker armour, he would most likely break the armour and the bones beneath it. That attack, the cyclone shift, makes full use of that ability and cuts enemies with his blade and smashes their limbs with the handle. The fact that his extending spear makes his range of attack almost unpredictable only adds to how scary he can be. Still, I won't be out done!'

Zcholts fitted a vile of yellow dust to the bottom of his sword's hilt and it charged the centre rod of his sword. He then held his sword with the tip aimed at the closest member of a speedily approaching group of five beowolves. With a single powerful and light fast strike, he ran the first member of the pack through. And from the tip of the two blade points, bolts of lightning shot to all nearby Grimm.

'Chain lightning.' Thought Rick. 'It's come a long way from when we were kids. The addition of the dust is allowing him to channel his electrical aura into a straight, almost instant movement. I doubt he can move in anything but a straight line, but at that speed, I don't think it would matter. Then the lightning itself is controlled with his aura but is supplied by his dust from the rod of his weapon. An overwhelming semblance, but he has always had the risk with his heart as a trade of. An ability to finish a battle in a single attack, but you could stop your heart by using it. I don't know if I could continue fighting if I had that kinda risk to deal with.'

The two brothers continued their competition of skills and kills, as they put dozens of beowolves to the edge of their blades. Yet there was still one that stood by and merely observed the display of power. The haze cloaked pack commander stood by and seemed to study the movements of the two siblings. Just why it was waiting was still a mystery. Its forces were dwindling, being exposed to the erosion of these seasoned warriors. Until the two brothers had wilted the number of enemies down to five, not including the leader of the pack who was still stood in the back. The brothers, now showing signs of fatigue and slowing down, dispatched the last of the pack.

"He's got nothing left to hide behind now." Said Zcholts. "But still, treat him with caution."

"Yeah. First I'll lead and you can study his movements for a change." Rick recommended.

"Ok, but be careful."

The Beowolf recognized that it was next in the brothers' cross hairs and walked towards them with no hesitation. It stopped just out of range from Ricks spear, stood its ground and showed its teeth while growling. Rick also stood at the ready, and began to spin the spear around the fingers on one hand. The two stared at each other for a moment until Rick lunged for the first strike. He held his spear in its smallest from, by the end of its handle, and extended it straight for the giant's throat. However, the hellish hound was deceptively agile and evaded the attack by ducking beneath it. It then reached up and caught the shaft of the spear before Rick had a chance to withdraw it. In shock, Rick attempted to retract the spear, but the Grimm squeezed it tight and held it motionless while the warrior embarrassed himself in his attempts to free his weapon. The black beast then pulled at the spear with a growl, which lifted Rick off the ground and towards the Grimm as it swung its claw for his head. This made Rick raise his arms in defence, releasing his weapon, as the blow struck him clear 20 metres and past his stunned brother.

"Monty! You ok?!" Asked Zcholts turning to look back and see the torn up trail, where Rick had skidded across the ground.

Rick, lying on his stomach, looked up at Zcholts a yelled back, "Look out!"

Zcholts instinctively electrified his body, which would protect him from the Beowulf's claw swipe. However, it did nothing to protect him from the spear that the Grimm had thrown. The spear pierced into Zcholts' back, causing him to fall to his knees, and the Grimm quickly pulled the spear from him. It readied another strike for the back of Zcholts' head, but was smashed clear when Rick landed a solid kick to Grimm's ribs.

"Thanks Monty. *cough hack*" Said Zcholts as he coughed blood onto the ground.

"It looks like you've got a punctured lung. Why didn't you defend yourself with your sword or aura?"

"Sorry. That's my instincts. If something hits me when I'm electrified they get temporarily paralyzed, or at least stunned. It must have noticed that during the earlier fight and that's why it threw your spear at me. Be careful with it, it's the most intelligent Grimm I've ever come across." Warned Zcholts

"Don't worry." Said Rick; assuring his brother. "My aftermath kick broke most of the ribs on the left side of its body. Oh, and my name is Rick now."

"Well 'Rick', if you did that much damage to it, how is it getting back up?"

Rick looked back to indeed see the supposedly crippled creature rise to his feet. It's expression and way it carried itself was no different though. The dark, aura like, haze from its body was even denser than before. And, under a more thorough glance, its left side was heavily indented.

"How is it unaffected by that amount of damage?" Asked Rick frustrated. "You need to stay here, little brother. I'm going see how much damage this thing can withstand."

"Ok, but be careful. There's something really bugging me about that aura like haze. If you can, see if you can remove a piece of its body." Said Zcholts.

"That's gonna be a trick with no weapon."

"Then take this." Said Zcholts, as he extended his arm with the handle of Nimbus' rage. "I can't even swing it right now anyway."

Rick paused from a moment before grabbing it.

"Ok. But if it gets by me and comes for you, vaporize it. I'd rather just have to resuscitate you then cremate you."

"Haha." Chuckled Zcholts. "Don't lose and you won't have to."

The Grimm let out another growl as it began its second attack. It ran towards the bothers, hoping to keep them both within range it attack, but was met halfway by fiercely swinging Rick. Rick kept up the assault, forcing the Grimm to jump and weave to avoid the cleaving slashes. It then used the spear that it still had in its possession, to block an otherwise undodgeable slash in midair. However, the slash did remove one of the beasts fingers before launching it back with the force of Rick's aftermath. Rick then used the blunt side of the sword's tip to golf swing the left behind finger over to Zcholts.

"But I didn't get you anything." Joked Zcholts.

"You can learn something about this thing for me instead." Replied Rick.

The beast rose back to its feet and Rick's fight raged on as Zcholts examined the severed finger.

'It still has that strange haze to it.' Thought Zcholts. 'Is it and aura? No, we would have sensed the presents of an aura by now. Some sort of ability? Unlikely. It hasn't done anything that directly involved this haze. Then is it... Huh?' Zcholts paused as the finger started to release even more of this haze, before eventually degrading into nothing but ash like dust and scattering into the wind. 'It couldn't possibly be!... It's already dead!'

Zcholts looked up to see Rick ready a piercing strike.

"Monty! Don't!" He yelled, but his brother ran the blade through the beast's chest before he could stop.

The Beowolf slumped back and dropped the spear on the floor, with the sword through its chest and poking out the other side.

"What's the problem?" Asked Rick as he looked at Zcholts.

That distraction was all that the beast needed. It grabbed Rick's arms, sprang its head forward and it bit into Rick's shoulder and neck. Rick just about managed to free himself by kicking the side of the creature that contained the smashed ribs. This made the Grimm remove its jaws and a second kick, forced the blade from the beast's chest and up through its neck and head. This time, the Beowolf stayed down. Dead, the decomposition of the Grimm speedily increased and engulfed its whole body.

"Monty, are you ok?!" Asked Zcholts.

"Yeah, it missed my arteries." He answered as he made his way over to Zcholts and sat on the ground next to him. "I'm in better shape than you." He joked.

"That's a relief." Said Zcholts as he let out a sigh.

"What did you learn about that finger?" Rick asked. "You seemed to spot something before."

"Yeah. That haze it was giving off was natural."

"What do you mean?"

"Whenever a Grimm dies, its body slowly starts to breakdown and turn into a black ash-like dust. It was doing that from the start. That can only mean that its body was dead." Explained Zcholts.

"Then how could it have moved around?" Asked Rick in disbelief.

"I don't know. But the kick you landed on it earlier told me two things as well. Its rate of decomposition increased after it was dealt heavy damage. And even though the damage was substantial it carried on the fight, unhindered. This meant that to take it down permanently, it needed to be struck with a lethal blow."

"Well, its head's in two and it's not getting up. So at least that much of your theory is confirmed." Said Rick with a chuckle. "But now, let's take care of your wounds."

"Hang on." Said Zcholts as he went back into deep thought.

"What is it?"

"That finger. It vaporized." He pointed out.

"Well yeah. That is what happens when a piece of a Grimm is cut off."

"I know that, but... It was quick. Like, really quick."

"And?" Asked Rick.

"I think it's because it was cut away from whatever was keeping the main body going." Zcholts looked towards the body of the defeated creature. "So if that body had been released from its control, wouldn't it vanish as well?"

"So... Whatever was controlling it is still present in the body? What sort of thing does that?" Questioned Rick.

"I think we're about to find out." Answer Zcholts as he pointed at the Grimm's remains.

Despite its head and upper torso being cleaved in two, the zombie Grimm rose to its feet. Once it had stood fully upright, it began to convulse, and from its back sprang a demonically shaped, dense cloud, of back haze with red haze eyes.

"The fight's not over yet." Said Rick as he rose to his feet with Zcholts' sword in hand.

"No! We need to withdraw! Neither of us are in the shape for more fighting!"

"Sorry little brother, but it doesn't look like we're getting a choice."

The dark cloud quickly moved through the air, towards the brothers. And Rick ran up to meet it.

"No, Monty! We know nothing about what it can do!" Screamed Zcholts.

Rick reached the ghoul and delivered several fierce slashes. However, the attack passed through the spectre's body, as if it was nothing more than the air around it. The darkness then surrounded Rick and no matter how he jumped, rolled or ran, he couldn't shake the shadowy veil.

"MONTY!" Shouted Zcholts as he feared for his brother.

The dark shade then seemed to focus on the teeth wounds on Ricks shoulder. The haze seemed to invade his body through the deep cuts, causing a back vein pattern and making Rick scream out in pain. This lasted for only a few seconds, and Zcholts looked on, helpless to do anything because of his injuries. Eventually, the black haze disappeared and Rick's screaming stopped. He got back up to his feet, but kept slumped forwards, with his head looking down to the ground.

"Monty?... Talk to me Monty!" Said Zcholts dreading what he just saw happen to his brother.

Rick started slow, slumped walk towards Zcholts.

"God damn it! SAY SOMETHING! PLEASE!" Begged Zcholts.

Rick's head rose and revelled one, wide open, red eye on the shadowed half of his face. The other eye was closed and almost looked unconscious. Zcholts felt the cold from his brother's stare travel up his spine. The demon had possessed him. The mindless brother stopped and stood over his younger sibling. And raised the sword, which he was given, above his head. Zcholts had to choices. Kill his brother or face his own death. He raised his hand and pointed it at his Rick's chest. Arcs of yellow electricity could be seen jumping between his fingers. His hand was shaking and tears filled his eyes. He looked up to his brother once more, and saw as his formally unconscious eye slowly opened. The tears started to overflow and pour down his face, as he dropped his hand back to the ground.

"I-I'm sorry... I can't stop you. Kate, you're gonna have your hands full with the boys. I'm sorry for that. My sons, I'm so proud to have had you as children and I'm sure you'll make great men. Dad, please take care of them all. I love you all so much."

A small trickle of blood runs down Zcholts' face. At first he mistakenly thought it was a tear, until it dripped from his face and onto the back of his hand. Zcholts looked up with a stunned expression and saw that Rick had ran himself through. Blood leaked from a corner of Rick's smile, and the rest of his face was pale and drained. The eye that just opened was his brother's, unchanged by the presence of the body snatcher.

"If you're gonna protect your family, you'll have to stay alive." Said Rick as blood from where the sword skewered his chest slowly ran down his body.

The black haze started to ooze from the exit wound on his back.

"What? Why... Why did you do that?"

"This thing... It's already got me. And what kind of big brother would I be if I didn't protect you."

The creature began to take form behind Rick, but was still thin haze.

"Listen..." Said Rick as he coughed up blood. "This thing isn't dead, and it's too dangerous to keep alive. You have to tell the elder council about it. It's the only way of protecting everyone. And you saw me earlier. This thing can't be cut. Light the fucker up." Rick fell to his knees, grabbed one of Zcholts' hands and placed it on the handle.

"But, this will definitely kill you!"

"I'm already dead!" Snapped Rick. "I'm just dead and talking!"

"And what about 'your' family, huh?! Who's gonna take care of them?!"

"Stop arguing with me! If the situation was reversed, we would both be dead!" This comment made Zcholts pause for a moment. "Only your lightning can kill this thing! Now hurry, it's nearly out!"

The red eyes started to form in the black haze.

"Chain lightning." Said Zcholts reluctantly.

The sword began to charge up and then released a massive bolt that lit up the forest for a moment. The creature eyes faded and its body evaporated and blew away in the night time breeze.

Rick fell to his side with the sword still ran threw him and Zcholts was still knelt there, stunned by what he had just done.

"Monty?... Mon-ty?"

"We did it?" Replied a frail voice.

"Yeah, we did it."

"Zcholts, sorry to say, but I think we're being watched." He said pointing at a small figure in the tree line. "It's my troublemaker."

Zcholts turned around and saw a small, stunned, boy.

"Wave him over, will you. I think... I need to say goodbye."

Zcholts does just that and the boy starts to slowly walk towards his fallen father steadily building to a run. He fell to his knees besides his father and wept. Rick brought up his hand and rested it on the child's head. Not a word went between the two, but Rick did start to whistle the sound that the two brothers shared. The lilting, calming melody calmed the crying gasps of the boy. Until, exhausted, the boy fell asleep.

"That last note was off." Commented Zcholts.

"It always has been." Replied Rick. "Zcholts..."

"Yes brother?"

"Keep moving forward." Said Monty as his last breath slowly left his body.

The merciless night continued its darkness, with the broken moon hanging in the starry sky. The horizon bore no light of the sun, as time stood silent for the fallen warrior.

**Present day**

The frozen plaza was now a mass of chaos. Bullets and knives flew through the air to be evaded or blocked by ice shields. Ashton and Lexy were keeping their distance as Teal and Nickel attempted to recover from over using their semblances. Markus, seemingly, still with enough energy to keep making runs at the opening of the ice wall.

"Shouldn't he be running out of juice by now?!" Complained Lexy.

"If he has the energy to evade, his has it to attack!" Replied Ashton. "Just keep up the assault!" He said knowing full well he was down to his last few rounds, and that Lexy was almost out of aura as well.

Now was the time for Markus to make his move. He noticed that Lexy's ability to throw kunai was reduced to one every to second, and that Ashton had been getting more and more reserved about using bullets. So he ran straight for Lexy, using ice boulders for cover, launched himself straight for her and landed a kick which fired her over the fountain and relieved her lungs from all that pesky air she was hanging on to.

"Lexy!" Shouted Kyte; in concern for his sister.

Ashton was also temporarily distracted with concern for Lexy, a mistake that Markus took full advantage of. By the time Ashton looked back to the opponent that he was now one-on-one with, who was within striking range. Ashton brought up his sword as a shield, as Markus slash down its length. Markus used this moment of contact to freeze Ashton's hand to the hilt and the tip of the blade, which was pointing down, to the floor. Ashton struggled to try and break himself loose from the ice, but it was far too dense. For good measure, Markus then also froze Ashton's feet to the floor before making his way for the ice wall's gap. As he approached it Kyte stood between the wall and Zcholts, as a last line of defence. Markus was not at all intimidated by this lone warrior, and so preceded to pass through the whole in the wall. However, as he stepped into the whole, his body became heavy and immovable.

'What is going on?!' Markus asked himself as he looked back at Ashton. 'He's nowhere near me so why I'm I getting heavy?!'

A quick glance down, relieved the answer.

'His glyph?! But I saw it fade away!'

Ashton then managed to break his sword out of the ice, and with a few swings at the ground, smashed off the clinging ice. A few more spins to heat the blade, then helped to melt the ice that was on the ground and holding his feet in place.

"What's with this glyph, Clave?!" Asked the outraged Markus.

"It reactivates in the presents of my aura."

"But you never touched me!"

"No, I didn't." Replied Ashton as he turned to face Markus. "But earlier, you grabbed the cable from my sword to freeze it. What you didn't see was the small amount of aura I gave you during that secondary contact. But enough explaining, you're up Kyte."

Markus strained to look back to Kyte, who sheathed his sword and started walking towards Markus. He then held out his hands, with his palms facing Markus.

"Light purge." Said Kyte as he washed over Markus' whole body with a brilliant light.

"What are you doing to me?!" Roared Markus.

"My semblance isn't healing, it's recharging. Not to be confused with Teal's amplifying, what my ability does is recharges your aura so that your body heals itself."

Markus was trying his best to pay attention, but a sudden feeling of exhaustion grew over his entire body.

"My theory, however..." Starts Ashton. "... Is that you're original aura is buried beneath this dust powered one. So as Kyte recharges it, it should expel the dust from your body."

Markus felt a huge pressure building from within himself. Like a volcano, ready to blow the top off a mountain. A dark haze started to escape his body as the dust was forced out. Nickel then appeared, helping Lexy walk, and Ashton jumped over and past Markus so he could go to his father. Markus skin changed back to its normal colour and the bands on his wrists, ankles and forehead were all changing from black to purple, and from purple to white until they faded away all together.

"Are you ok Dad?" Ashton asked Zcholts.

"Yes, but don't hurt Markus." He said straining from his chest pains. "There's more to him than you know."

"What do you mean?"

*urrghhfff*

Ashton turned to see Kyte being repelled through the air. Markus had regained use of his previous semblance and was recharged enough by Kyte, to launch one final attack. He used his ability to force himself out of the glyph, and then threw his father's spear with all his might, at Ashton. With his semblance as a booster, the spear was travelling to fast to evade, deflect or defend against. All the team could do was watch on as the spear flew through the air. Ashton tried to bring up his arms to attempt to block its path, and closed his eyes in a flinching moment. A few seconds passed and Ashton still had his eyes tightly shut. He slowly opened them to see a figure between him and the spear's path.

"Dad?" Questioned Ashton.

Zcholts turned his head to smile at his son, and then collapsed back to the ground with the spear head in his gut.

"Dad!" Ashton rushed over to his father's side. "I've got you, you'll be ok!"

Zcholts looked into his son's tearing eyes and said, "I'm sorry, Ashton. But I've had more than my share of second chances."

The steady pool of blood grew beneath the Colonel, but the smile never left his face.

"Why, Zcholts?" Began Markus. "Why can I see you killing my father, and yet..." He raised his head as a few tears made their way down his cheeks. "... Why am I sad and a guilty by what I have done?! I've wanted to get back at the main family for so many years, and now that I have done that, why do I feel..."

Markus' question was halted by the sound of a familiar tune. A lilting melody that calmed Markus and Ashton both.

"That, that was..." Stuttered Markus.

"I know." Interrupted Zcholts. "That last not was off. It always has been."

"I... Remember. I got so excited about my Father fighting, that I snuck out of the house after dinner and followed him into the forest. I remember loosing track of you when you both ran so quickly through the woods. And then, I found you in time to see the shadow creature attacking my father. It possessed him and then went to attack you, but he stopped himself. You then electrocuted the monsters, but my dad fatally wounded himself." Markus took a moment to think through his memories while Kyte and Teal got to Zcholts' side to try a heal him.

Teal boosted Kyte's aura for his semblance and focused the light on his body.

"What was my father to you? How did you know each other?" Markus asked.

Zcholts smiled. "He was my older brother and the first of our family to want to travel away from home. The value of life that he chose was Oum, to keep moving forward. At a young age, he realized that he could only get so much out of life before the main household's cage would close him in. So during his trial of blades and shades, he ran away. For months, the family searched the forests and villages. In the end, he was predicted K.I.A. I was the only one who knew the truth. The plan was that I'd work to open the council's mind from the inside, and then he would return to prove the worth of life on the outside." Zcholts looked up at the same broken moon, hanging in the star filled night sky. "Our dream was destroyed by that night." He then looked at his son. Tears washed down the boy's face. "You have your uncle's thirst for more in you, Ashton. See this world for both of us... And keep moving forward."

Zcholts' eyes slowly closed and the last breath slowly left his body. The light from Kyte's palms faded and he took his hands away from Zcholts' chest. Both he and Teal stood back from the fallen warrior, allowing Ashton to sit by his side. Ashton reached out with a shaking hand and slowly pulled the spear from his body. Ashton then stood up and walked over to Markus, who was still on his knees, weeping from all that he remembered and had done. He kept his head down and but knew that Ashton was stood over him.

"I'm sorry." Whimpered Markus. "I'm so... So sorry."

Ashton knelt down in front of him, grabbed his hand and placed the spear in Markus' hand. Still with tears in his eyes, Markus looked up at Ashton with a confused expression.

"My life value is Bastion. 'Always follow your duty.' Your father, my uncle, did his duty as my father's older brother with honour. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have had my dad growing up... Thank you, cousin."

Those words shank deep into Markus. His breathing quivered as his tears continued to fall down his cheeks. The horizon was dark, but now bore light as the sun rose for the next day. The warming light started to bath the battlefield of ice and rubble, and illuminated the dew eyed faces that surrounded the fallen warrior. The light shone on Zcholts' face, but was no match for the peaceful smile across it.


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Hey all,**

**Its been a long time since I've left a note due to a pretty full schedule; but after the last chapter and how important this next one is to Ashton's story, I thought I'd make the time. The biggest challenge I had with this chapter was trying my best to see what emotions would set the mood for each character. I wanted to give the sadness as much emphasis as I could, without taking from the hard pride that you'd get in a warrior community. I hope it comes across with the poignancy that I intended. Thanks and please enjoy :)**

**PS/ Many thanks to Marthapaige96 for the kind words. It means a lot to me that my story can be as enjoyable for you to read as it is for me to write. I hope I can continue to write chapters that keep you hooked. Thanks again :)**

* * *

Three days have passed since Zcholts' death, and the family and friends of the fallen warrior had gathered in the Clave castle. They were all dressed in the ceremonial cloak, a heavy metal armour which was shaped around the wearers shoulders and a black cape which covered the entire body. The shoulder armour was held in place by a small clip latch at the front and was decorated with a black patterns worked into the steel if you were a family member. The head of the wearers were also covered by a black hood and their faces, by a black cloth and leather mask which shaped the eyes. Four new figures entered the room, but wore no hoods or masks.

"Damn this is heavy. I've never heard of a funeral gown that includes armour before." Said Lexy.

"Yeah, but this is the Clave castle and they have their own customs and culture. We should be honoured to have been extended an invitation. They are a secluded society after all." Pointed out Nickel.

A lone figure came to greet them, whilst the rest seemed somewhat uneasy by the strangers' presence.

"You must be team NKTL." Said the welcome family member as she removed her hood and mask. "My name is Kate. I'm Ashton's mother."

"Thank you for inviting us." Said Nickel as he bowed his head and the other members quickly followed example. "I hope you're not breaking too many laws on our account."

"Zcholts never agreed with our laws of seclusion. Besides, Ashton told us all how he would've met the same fate if it hadn't been for you. So, thank you." She said gratefully

"Umm... Would it be ok if you could tell us a bit about the ceremony?" Asked Teal. "We just don't want to accidentally say or do anything insensitive."

"Yeah, and what's the deal with these ridiculously heavy shoulder pads?" Asked Lexy.

"You see, that could be what Teal meant by, 'insensitive'." Said Kyte.

"*chuckle*. It's quite alright." Insisted Kate. "The clothing is symbolic, so I wouldn't expect you to know anyway. The hood and cape is our duty as Calve warriors, the masks are our seclusion and the shoulder plates are our grief. As for the ceremony itself, at the end everyone will remove their shoulder plates to symbolize them being released from their grief. But we're never without our duty, so keep the cloaks on, ok? Just do as everyone else does and you'll all be fine."

"Thank you." Said Nickel.

"How is Ashton?" Asked Lexy.

"Oh, he's doing better." Kate replied. "The last of his brothers arrived after missions today, so they're all in the courtyard greeting each other. I'll take you to him. I'm sure he'll be happy that you're all here."

Kate led the team across the room towards a door. From the other side, a faint sound of metal clashing could be heard. Kate pushed open the door revealing a balcony which overviewed the courtyard. In the centre, a cloud of dust hid all but the tips of blades. A loud *clang* of metal rang out and from the dust cloud darted out four figures, clad in the funeral garb, which took a square formation around the cloud as it settled. As the dust dispersed, the team looked on with interest as the familiar frame and broad, single edged blade was unveiled.

"Is that Ashton?" Asked Lexy.

"Know anyone else who uses a sword like that, do you?" Pointed out Kyte.

Teal turned to Kate and asked, "Not to sound more estranged then we already are, but is this them greeting each other?"

"Yes, it must look strange." Replied Kate. "But they are warriors of the Clave. And as such, they can assess how they are doing physically and emotionally by their fighting styles."

The spectators watched as the first of the brothers ran at Ashton. The cape lifted showing the golden side handle batons which were his weapons of choice. Rapidly spinning the batons, he would throw hook punches, striking at Ashton with great force. Ashton defended himself by using the whole length of his blade to keep up the parrying. For the next attack, the brother delivered a straight punch to the flat of Ashton's blade, which he used as a shield. The longer end of the baton was along the forearm of the attacker, and at its very end had a cylindrical piece which shot into the main body of the baton. The shockwave generated by this launched Ashton across the courtyard, and towards his next opponents. As Ashton landed, he was rushed by two of the brothers who wielded similarly built weapons. The handle and guard of a katana, but had two long pieces of smooth pointed steel of around three foot long, passed the guard. At the other end of the handle there was a solid hoop. Definitely unusual weapon designs.

The two attackers' movements were executed with synchronicity, providing a continuous flow of attacks. But instead of blocking the torrent of swipes and lunges, Ashton opted to dodge them instead and made doubly sure to keep his blade as far from theirs as he could. Then the two attackers swung at Ashton from either side, forcing him to jump back to evade. However the two weapons clashed against each other which explained their shape. As the weapons collided together, the vibrations of the impact channelled through the weapon's two prongs, intensely increasing the noise. The vibrations distorted the air as the wave travelled towards Ashton. The effect of which was a very clear change in Ashton's ability to stand and move. To escape this Ashton aimed his grapple blade away from the fight, fired it, and speedily took himself out if the range of the sound wave.

As Ashton started to regain his senses and rose to his feet, the fourth and final brother seemed to appear from nowhere. A quick instinct allowed Ashton to dodge the vertical slice from the double edged, single handed, sword. As the attack hit the floor, the blade split down its length and shot out one of two single edged swords up. The brother caught it and took several more swings towards Ashton. The last of the flurry, Ashton blocked with his Starburn. The brother kept the swords in contact, and from the attacking brother's blade, red chains started to rapidly sprout and wrap around Ashton and his weapon. It was then that the baton wielding brother aimed the long end of one of his weapons at Ashton, and a central piece of the shaft began to spin. The spinning component started to glow a green colour before firing an almighty blast from the end of the weapon. Like a flare, the blast shot towards Ashton and burst with an extreme glow.

"Whoa... These guys are going pretty extreme, aren't they?" Asked Teal.

Kate smiled and answered with, "If Ashton couldn't handle this; he wouldn't have the station he has today or the respect from his peers and students. If his brothers went easy on him, he wouldn't be appreciative."

The green smoke cleared and showed that Ashton had shot the flare with Moonshine, before it made contact. He then made the chains that wrapped him many times heavier. This forced them down his body and into a heap around his ankles. He then leapt into the air, somersaulting and spinning his blade as he ascended. The brothers then let loose a volley of focused sound waves and green flare rounds. Ashton fired his grapple into the path of the flare, detonating it in mid-air and anchoring to the floor between the baton wielding brother's feet. Reeling in to the anchor also helped Ashton evade the sound waves. He then began his assault on the lone, baton, brother with slashes and dancer like foot work. Ashton then went to land a powerful downward slashes, which the brother blocked with batons crossed to catch the blade. The heavy blow didn't make the brother even flinch, instead the ground beneath one of his feet crumbled and impacted from the blow. However, he wasn't prepared for the kick which launched him into a nearby wall.

Next, the duo of sound. For this Ashton threw his blade straight into the air and rushed them with Moonshine instead. The brothers stood with their tuning fork like weapons at the ready as Ashton aimed his gun and fired a round between them, forcing them to get some distance from each other. Ashton then aimed his revolver behind him, made himself extremely light, and fired a round to propel himself towards one of them. The singled out of the two raised his weapon, and aimed the twin spikes at Ashton as a counter. However, a downward axe kick forced the points down and a follow up kick, plus a weight boost, forced the points of the weapon into the ground. Ashton grabbed hold of the now disarmed brother's arm and spun around to twist his arm behind his back. The brother brought a head height elbow around to try and hit Ashton, but this mistake lead to both of his arms being restrained behind him. Pulling the arms straight, and lifting them up, Ashton raised the captive arms by the wrists forcing the brother to lean forward as Ashton jumped onto his upper back. A powerful jump then set Ashton into the air and the brother into the floor. Ashton then retrieved his sword from the air and motioned for a downward slash to the other brother. In response, the brother struck the floor to cause his weapon to vibrate before aiming it at Ashton's path of descent. The amplified vibrations distorted the air, making looking threw it difficult, but as soon as Ashton enters its range, he would find himself unable to move.

To the brother's surprise a gunshot could be heard and a bullet passed through the sound wave and struck the weapon. The weighted weapon became difficult to carry and the vibrations were muted due to its increase in density. The brother then looked back up to Ashton, only to see him land another axe kick onto the brother's shoulder, slamming him to the ground.

"Whoa! What an upset!" Cheered Lexy.

"He is the young prodigy of the family." Said Kate. "You've all seen how he acts in and out of battle. His easy going; playful side and his analytical; combat ready side. Couple those two sides together and you have the perfect recipe for an ever-ready warrior."

"Where does being playful come into fighting?" Asked Kyte; sceptical of the possible answers.

"Being able to relax out of battle can be more important than techniques to use in battle." She claimed. "You could have the greatest swordsmanship in the world, but if you're an easy person to angry, depress or just to make you doubt yourself. Well then you lose grip on those skills." Kate looked down at Ashton as he traded blows with the final brother. "Ashton can see a positive side to almost anything, and so can never get manipulated like that. The trainers of the castle, these days, are teaching young recruits that if you can't win a battle it doesn't mean you've lost it. Whether you win or lose, you either have a victory or a lesson about yourself."

"Is that one of the first ten's values?" Asked Teal.

"Nope." Said Kate; as she shook her head. "Ashton came up with that."

The team shared a shocked look and stared down to Ashton.

"He just thought that up and you started teaching it?" Questioned Kyte. "I mean, who is Ashton in the Clave army?"

"Well his rank is Major..." Explained Kate. "But his occupation, out of war time, is Master trainer of sword play, hand to hand combat and improvised weaponry. Basically, it's his job to come up with more training, teaching and fighting methods."

"And are his brothers the same?" Asked Nickel.

"No. Going by Oder of age, which is also the order of his brothers attacking him, there's the Apprentice of Stratagem and squadron commander, Captain Edward. Experimental weaponry and semblances would go through the R+D's (research and development) Lieutenant twins, Orlan and Ikon. Then there's the oldest brother and a Captain in the MP (military police) + disciplinary division, as well as Master of smithing, Uri, who is the one currently fighting Ashton."

"I see." Said Nickel. "So how do military rankings differ from those outside of the Clave army?"

"They don't really." Kate replied. "Our different divisions are just like the differences between an Air Force, naval fleet or army units. You can pick a currier in any of them, and only take orders from the superiors of that division. The only major difference being that regardless of division, when war comes, we all draw swords."

Back at the action, the two remaining brother are still hashing it out. Uri; the oldest and most experienced brother, versus Ashton; the youngest and the brother with the most natural talent. Uri prevented Ashton from weighing down his swords by wrapping them in chains, which he discarded after contact with Starburn. He also kept Ashton on his toes by attacking him with chains as well as his swords. Ashton jumped back, putting distance between him and Uri, and shot two rounds at him which were caught in links of the chains. Ashton holstered Moonshine, and held Starburn with one hand on its handle and the other on flat edge of the blade, around half way up its length. Ashton aimed and fired the grapple blade into the air above Uri, and as the cable reached its full length of 80 meters, the cable started to plummet to the earth. Uri quickly rolled to the side to dodge the cable from slicing him like cheese, and stood ready to bloke Ashton's opportunistic attack.

After the initial slash, Ashton kept close and instead of attacking repeatedly dodged the slashes of Uri's blades and the lashes of his chains. After several seconds of this, Uri then managed to get a chain around Ashton's arm and back. A red outline then started to glow around Uri and more chains sprouted from the chain that wrapped Ashton, tightly squeezing his arms, chest and legs.

"It was impressive, but it looks like Uri is the winner." Said Kyte.

"Are you sure, Kyte?" Asked Kate.

The nearly cocooned Ashton was straining, but managed to get both hands on Starburn's handle and twist. It was only then that Uri and the others had realized that the cable hadn't been reeled in. The quickly moving cable had in fact, tangled itself around Uri's legs, but a strong stance kept him on his feet. Now Ashton became immersed in his blue aura, the same as Uri had in his red one. Who would be the first to crack? The chains of Uri kept up their squeeze, and with every breath Ashton drew was becoming more difficult to get. The tensions rose even higher between these two victims of sibling rivalry. Without so much as... Uri's trousers then hit the floor, cracking the stone on contact with the ground. All eyes were then focused on the Captain of the MP and disciplinary division's tighty whities. The look of embarrassment could even be seen on his mask as he stared down at his sock suspenders. Slowly Uri looked back up at Ashton, only to see an oncoming, two footed drop kick. With weighted down ankles the attack was undodgeable, and Uri was kicked clean out of his pants into a heap on the floor.

"And it's things like that which made Ashton a master of improvised weaponry. *chuckle*" Said Kate to team, who were still blank faced from the pantsing.

The Ashton's blue aura subsided and released the brothers from their weighted restrictions. Edward, Ikon and Orlan all picked themselves up and patted off dust, along bits of stone and earth, whilst Uri retrieve his trousers.

"Well, it's good to see that you still fight with all of your usual amount of open mindedness." Said Uri; in his gruff voice.

"Yeah but, your aura usage isn't exactly as sharp as usual." Pointed out Ikon.

"Agreed. It was a little sloppy." said Orlan.

Ashton pulled out his scroll and saw that his aura level was nearly in the red.

"We all saw the report, and we all know that you did all you could, Ash." Comforted Edward. "I looked over your options of the fight, and I couldn't have seen how you could have done anymore than you did."

Re-tightening his belt, Uri nodded in agreement, and added, "And if Dad hadn't have done what he did, we would've lost both of you."

Ashton stood solemnly with his head down.

"How can you all be so calm about this?" Questioned Ashton. "Not only calm... Forgiving. Dad's dead because he put himself at risk for me, twice! Once to take out his opponent, and the second time which is what killed him!"

Under the chin of Ashton's mask, tear drops slowly trickled out.

"You were with father at the end, right?" Asked Uri.

Ashton nodded to reply.

"What were his last words?"

"He said, 'Keep moving forward.'" Answered Ashton, loudly sniffing back his tears.

"Well I'm pretty sure we can all agree then, that he wanted us all to make the most of the opportunities we have." Said Orlan. "Today we do as we were raised and listen to our father."

The brothers took a moment to quietly remember their father and all the things that he taught them. In the distance, the loud sound of metal being struck could be heard. The funeral was about to begin

A large, round room was filled with people wearing black cloaks and metal shoulder plates. In the centre, there was a black iron casket with the departed Zcholts sealed within it. The masked faces of the hall contained family, friends, colleagues and students of col. Zcholts. A member of the elder council walked forward to a podium with a paper scroll in his hand. Reaching the podium, Shaun Clave (Zcholts' father) removed his mask and revealed his tear soaked face to the mourning crowd.

"Thank you all for coming." He began. "No father imagines doing this for his son, and even though we are Clave and know the risks of that name, nothing can truly prepare you for when that news ever arrives. My son was both fierce and fearless in battle. His semblance and speed soon gave him the name of the Colonel of lightning. Being excellent in battle, however, never distracted him from his duties as a father. He was with his beautiful wife, Kate, for 31 years of marriage. And in that time fathered five tremendous young warriors. These sons were born as amazing warriors, but it was the way both parents raised them which made them amazing people. His contributions to the Clave and its army will never be forgotten for they have indefinitely changed the army for the rest of time. It was his wish that the Clave be permitted to go and explore the world we vowed to save. And to commemorate his efforts the 1st advanced recon unit, of which his son Ashton was the first member, shall be form here on known as the 'Zcholts recon team'."

"My elder!"

To everyone's shock, the elder's eulogy was interrupted by a lone man. He pulled down his hood and removed his mask to reveal that it was Ashton himself.

"Speak, Major." Shaun permitted.

"I must make a request as to the name of the recon team. It was not only my father who lost his life to realize the freedom we have now. The father of Markus Riddick was in actuality my father's brother, and lost his life to defend him many years ago."

'Monty?!' The elder thought to himself; shocked to hear the name of his lost son.

"I ask that further consideration is committed and the name be served as a tribute to them both." Ashton requested.

His grandfather let out another tear upon hearing about his other fallen son and the honour of duty that Ashton wished for them.

"Request approved." He declared.

Ashton put his mask and hood back on and the speech continued.

"As we've just seen, Zcholts passed on the values of the ten down to the next generation with care and clear guidance." Said the elder with pride. "He is and always will remain a true Clave."

With his speech ended, Shaun rolled out the scroll. It was the record of Zcholts. His former name, weapon type and name, his semblance, his rank and his achievements. On the bottom of the document, there was a final line of text which read, 'A warrior in life, spirit and death.' Shaun poured out a small blob of wax on the space next to the text, and pressed it with a seal stamp. The seal was off a round moon, partially shaded to resemble a crescent, and a double edged sword vertically down it. With the seal set, the sons of Zcholts stepped up to the iron casket. They made a circle around it and, from the oldest to the youngest, they passed their fathers sword. They then did so with the sheath of the blade. Both the sword and the sheath were now in Ashton's hands. He raised them and slowly placed the sword in, his hands shaking while he did so. However the blade seemed to be tightly wedged as it entered the last few inches. But neither the less, the sword was sheathed.

"A warrior in life, spirit and death!" Said the room in unison.

The brothers all un-clipped their shoulder plates and they fell to the ground with a echoing *clang*. And soon thereafter, the rest of the room followed suit. And with that, the ceremony was complete. One by one, the crowd of those in morning came up and gave a bow to the iron casket before exiting the hall. Eventually, only Kate, her sons, the elder grandfather and team NKTL were left.

"So, what will happen to Zcholts' body?" Asked Teal.

"There's a mountain to the east. It was hollowed out over the generations and now stands as the resting place of our ancestors." Answered Kate. "We call it, Moon Rise Mountain. Zcholts will be transported there, where he can rest peacefully."

There was one other person in the background, who was still wearing the shoulder plates that caught Nickel's eye.

"Who's that?" He asked Kate.

Ashton had also noticed this person and walked over to him.

"If we both keep wearing this guilt it'll ruin our shoulders." Said Ashton as he removed his mask.

"I've got no right to remove my guilt." Said the man.

"Oh. Then what did our fathers die for?" Asked Ashton.

This puzzled the masked individual and made him raise his head and look at Ashton.

"They both fought to give their sons a chance at freedom." Said Ashton; answering his own question.

"And what if I don't deserve this freedom?" He asked.

"Not an option!" Scorned Ashton. "If you forsake the wishes of your father, you'll be killing him for the second time!"

"Ashton... who is this?" Asked Edward, as he walked towards them.

Markus remove his mask, and the air in the room grew tense. Markus sat down on the pew behind him, and Ashton and the others removed their masks too.

"Why isn't he in cell somewhere?" Asked Lexy.

"Because he is another victim of this crime, and doesn't require punishment." Stated Ashton, as he turned to face everyone else. "His father died before his eye protecting mine. What's more, is the fact that they were brothers. This means that Markus is our cousin and a fellow Clave by birth right. The enemy used Markus' limited memory of this to convince him that our father murdered his."

The room returned to a stunned silence and elder slowly walked towards guilt riddled young man.

Stood just in front of his Shaun said, "Please stand up."

Markus did so but kept his head down.

"Remove your hood."

Markus slowly did as he was told.

"Now, please look at me." Requested the elder.

Markus looked up into the elder's eyes and the grandfather's jaw dropped and his eyes widened.

His expression returned to normal before he said, "You look just like your father did. Strong build, a steady stance and violet eyes."

Markus was slack jawed from this statement, and looked up to see the proud smile across Shaun's face.

"It seem as though I lost a son, but gained a grandson."

Markus looked down at the ground and said, "I... Have three sisters as well."

"I have granddaughters?!" Asked the excited elder.

"Well, Gina was two years old when dad died and my mother was pregnant. And she had my twin sisters, Rain and Jynx, a few months later."

"Three granddaughters!" The old man let out a joyful, bellowing laugh and tears happiness. "Thank you, Markus. It's good to know that my lost son still found happiness in his life."

The rest of Zcholts' sons came up to Markus and removed their masks.

"So, we should welcome you to the family more formally." Said Uri. "Don't you think so, guys?"

The brothers all drew their weapons and made their way to the courtyard. Markus was wide eyed and astonished at how welcoming the brothers were. A hand was placed on his shoulder and he turned to see whose it was. Ashton was still stood by his side and with a flash of his white eyes, his shoulder plates became feather weights.

"If you're going to keep that on, then we wouldn't want you to be at a disadvantage from the extra weight." Said Ashton.

"It's ok." Replied Markus. "I don't think I need this anymore."

With that said, Markus unclipped the plates and they slid off like everyone else's. He may not have forgiven himself, but he was happy to be finally called Clave. He turned and left for the courtyard with his father's spear, Getsuga, in his hand and stood taller than he had in a long time. Ashton took a moment before leaving like the rest. Something caught his attention earlier and so he walked back to his father's casket. On the top, his sword was laying across the iron lid. Ashton lifted Nimbus and went to draw out from the sheath. He felt the same sensation as before, like it was getting wedged by something. The blade now fully drawn, Ashton inspected the sheath and found a thin envelope inside it. Looking at the insignia on the seal of the envelope, Ashton's eyes grew wide. He pocketed the note, re-sheathed the sword and placed it back on top of his father's casket. He took a step back from the iron coffin and bowed one last time.

'Thank you father.' He thought before turning and joining the others in the courtyard.

A few miles out of the Clave grounds, in the small peaceful town of Cleat, a few familiar faces were sat in a coffee shop with two strangers. One was man of average looking build, dressed in layers of green and clearly a fighter, based on his twin sword that he had sheathed by a quiver of arrows on each side. The other was a taller and more muscular man, clad in heavy chest, shoulder and forearm armour, with a large hammer across his back.

"So, you guys wanted to talk to us about the raid a couple of weeks ago?" Asked Irene.

"Yeah, my name's Alex and this is Razlov. We're from an academy quite a way away, and we came because we caught wind of a couple of skilled fighters. They apparently helped to bring the raid to an end without a single casualty."

"Oh..." Said Vicky. "Well then Sheriff Irene is definitely the one you want to talk to. She planned the whole rescue out."

"Vicky, please stop calling me 'Sheriff' like that, I'm still not too comfortable with the idea." She said blushing.

"Ahh, so you're the one they're calling 'the fear monger'?" Asked Razlov.

"That's me." Answered the bubbly girl.

"Sorry, but would you mind showing me?"

"No problem big guy." She said smiling.

She closed her eyes for a moment, and then opened them and stared deep into Razlov's eyes. A cold chill quickly shot up the giant's back as his breathing deepened. Visions of darkness polluted his mind, which from then emerged a set of deep red teeth. The man shot to his feet and drew weapon in hand, and the visions left him. His breathing started to settle down as he returned to his senses.

"I'm sorry about that." He said, returning his weapon to his back and sat down.

"No it's fine." Said Irene. "Actually, I'm impressed."

"What do you mean?" Asked Alex.

"Well usually, when I do that to someone, the person I look at can't move because of the fear. I'm guessing you'd be the same way if I looked at you." She said looking at Alex. "You both remind me of him. Don't you think, Vicky?"

"Uh-huh." She nodded. "It feels like we're sitting with Ashton again."

"Ashton?" Asked Alex.

"He's the true hero of that bandit attack." Answered Irene . "He was just a stranger who, literally, fell out off the sky one day. And as soon as he hit the ground, he started making our lives in this town better."

"Yeah. He knocked out most of the bandits using the barrel of a gun." Said Vicky; recalling the events off the day. "And when we gave him the reward money for the captured thugs, he came back in this shop and bought nearly all of the cakes I baked that day. I swear, I thought I'd end up giving him a shot of insulin." She laughed.

"Huh, so Ashton, we'll look into that." Said Alex. "But first, we should ask you first."

"Ask me what?" Questioned Irene.

"How would you like to try out for a place in the academy known as Foresight?"

"You're from Foresight!?" She said stunned. "I never expected to see you guys way up here."

"We're currently on the lookout for new members. We heard of what happened here and thought we'd check it out." Said Razlov. "A talent like yours would fit right in."

It took a moment for Irene to regain her composure and realize that she had risen to her feet from the surprise. She retook her seat and took a big slurp from her coffee.

"I can't believe I'm gonna say this, but I can't."

"Oh, why not?" Asked Alex.

"I may have helped save the people of this town, but it was also my fault that they ended up in danger. I've got a lot of bad karma to make up for."

Alex smiled and replied, "Fair enough. It's a really nice town here. I'd say you're doing an excellent job of keeping it safe."

"Thank you." Said Irene; blushing.

"And thank you for the coffee, Vicky. It was great." Said Razlov.

"Oh! You're welcome!" She said whilst giving a short bow.

"Well we'll be off." Said Alex as the duo rose to their feet. "But if we could ask one last question..."

"Go for it." Said Irene.

"This Ashton guy, which way did he go from here?" He asked.


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Hey all,**

**So an emotional and unsure time of his life, but Ashton hasn't given up. He is determined and ready to see what his future holds, even if his path isn't clear. Meanwhile, two new characters join the fray and seem to have their own agenda.**

**Thanks, and please enjoy. :)**

* * *

A full day has passed since the Zcholts' funeral and Ashton was stood with his grandfather, in his study.

"You understand the significance of the message, right Ashton?" Asked the elder.

"Yes." He replied, before looking up to his grandfather, revealing the dark circles under his eyes, and added, "I've had all night to think about it."

"And what conclusions have you come to in that time?" He asked.

Ashton took a breath and closed his eyes for a moment.

Reopening them with an expression of fire in his eyes he said, "That whoever is responsible for this is going to pay. But I can only investigate one facility. That's why I came to you, grandpa. I don't know how long I've got before I draw too much attention to myself, so I need you to protect everyone else. I know it's a big ask, but telling my mother or brothers may make them take their own risks. And if they're caught, they could end up sharing a watch over the moon rise with dad."

"You could share in that same watch as well. Especially if you have no assistance." His grandfather pointed out.

"I've already thought about that, and I might have a solution." Replied Ashton; not giving too much away. "Anyway, my chopper is nearly ready to go."

"So you're starting back in Atlas?" Asked Shaun.

"Yeah." Answered Ashton. "I've got to join a military group in the next three days and inform the council as to which it is. Personally, I'd rather not go the Atlas academy. The General seems to only be interested in joining the academy with Clave. If these people are in Atlas and Clave they wouldn't need to join the two together."

"I see." Said Shaun. "Well, whatever happens, I'm sure you will find the best cause of action."

The elder stood up from behind his desk, walked around it, and held out his hand to Ashton.

"You should keep this with you, should you ever to strengthen your resolve."

The grandfather held out the formally sealed envelope. Ashton took it and placed it in his inside jacket pocket. The two of them I braced each other in a hug and squeezed tightly, knowing the risks that lay in their future.

A chopper on the helipad of the castle was warming its engine as team NKTL climbed into the cab.

"Is this everyone?" Asked the pilot.

"Just one more." Answered Nickel. "And here he is." He said pointing towards Ashton, as ran towards the vehicle.

"Sorry I'm late." Apologized Ashton. "It took longer to say 'bye' to everyone than I thought."

The chopper took off and started making its way towards Atlas.

"If you're gonna join with our academy, you're gonna have to break these bad habits of yours." Joked Lexy.

"Like the General wouldn't let a Clave join, just because he's a little late to things." Said Kyte.

"Actually, I'm..." Said Ashton before getting interrupted by Teal.

"We'd have to find a team for him to join with. Because of Ginodi, or Indigo, or whatever her name was, the General isn't allowing any single man teams." Explained Teal.

"I'm not sure if I'm staying in Atlas!" Ashton shouted over the eager team.

A moment of awkward silence filled the cab, until Nickel asked, "Is it to do with cake?"

The pilot rested his spare arm against the cockpit door and used it to prop up his head.

'This is gonna be a long flight.' He thought to himself.

In the outskirts of Atlas, the mysterious duo were making their way through the underbrush of plants and trees. Their eagerness had encouraged them to take a shortcut to the capital in order to catch wind of this fighter they heard so much about.

"Describe him again, Raz." Asked Alex.

The large bodied Razlov had to bend back low hanging tree branches, and so was several steps behind the more freely moving Alex.

"His name is Ashton, standing at around 5 foot 10 inches tall and weighing approximately 185 pounds. His weapons including a full body length, single edged, great sword and a large calibre revolver with a nine inch long barrel. He didn't seem to use his last name or semblance, or he hid it very well, whilst in Cleat so that's all we known."

"Right, and the incident in Atlas four days ago. I know that there's nothing yet to say that he was involved, but do you know any details about it?" Asked Alex.

"Well it wasn't Foresight or White Fang related, but that still doesn't clear up if it was Ashton or not." Answered Razlov. "You don't suppose that 'he' had anything to do with it, do you?"

Alex had an expression on his face, which seemed as though he was sifting through internal thoughts.

"I'd really doubt it." He answered. "'He' has no reason to come this far north. And even if he did, why would he make such a scene? It would be like broadcasting to the Hanta-Kira to investigate the area. Plus, this was apparently one hell of a fight. So either it was a completely separate event or he was fighting someone strong enough to hold his own for awhile. We're there any fatalities?"

"Yeah, there were two." Razlov answered. "But only one body."

"What? Why only one?"

"The other was apparently vaporized during an attack."

"Yikes." Said Alex as he cringed at the thought. "Well, that sounds as good a place as any to start looking for clues as to what happened, and to this Ashton character."

"Agreed." Said Razlov.

The two wanderers finally pushed that one bush out from their path and saw the great white walls of the north kingdom's capital. The hum of people going about their daily routines could be heard as a flat background noise. And engines from various vehicles, including military aircraft, told them that they were close to the academy and army barracks.

"Finally, back on the ground." Said Lexy as she leaned back with her arms joined by interlocking fingers above her head.

"Yeah, they should really think about putting some more comfortable furniture in those things." Agreed Teal

"Like a beanbag chair!" Shouted Nickel, out of character.

The rest of the team took a moment and just stared at their leader.

"What?" He said; looking at the facial expressions of everyone around him. "Just 'cause It'd be awesome." He said with his tone slightly depressed.

"So, anyway..." Said Lexy in her attempt to get the conversational ball rolling again. "I take it that you'll be making your way to see the General, right?" She asked Ashton.

"Yeah, I have something to give him."

"Like a message... Of how much you wanna join our academy... Maybe?" She continued to pry.

"Ummm... I'm still deciding on that." Replied Ashton. "But could you guys do me a favor?"

"Sure, what do ya need?" She asked enthusiastically.

"Well..." Ashton took a moment to phrase his words. "I'd like to see the General alone."

"Oh... ok." Said Teal.

"Thanks. There's just something I want to discuss with him. But I'll meet up with you guys afterwards."

"Where should we meet?" Asked Kyte.

"The cake shop! I vote the cake shop!" Ashton blurted instinctively.

And now with all the awkward starring focused on him, Ashton said, "I'll just... Ermm... The General... Guy." And slowly turned from the team walked out of the hanger.

"You know..." Said Kyte. "You should just tell him that you want him to stay."

Lexy turned to look at her intuitive brother.

"He might just say 'yes'." He added.

Lexy blushed and folded her arms.

"Yeah, but... He might not want to." She replied. "His dad just died here, and we don't know how he's going to be working with us if he does stay."

"Well then, all we can do is cross our fingers and hope that everything from here on goes well." Kyte smiled at his sister. "But if you to start dating and he hurts you, I'll kick the snot out off him." He said with his fists on his hips and puffing his chest out.

Lexy just let out a snort of laughter and the team started making their way to cake shop.

"Hi, welcome to the office of... Oh god, it's you!"

"Yes! That's the welcome you get when you stuff a girl into a coma, fill your own stomach with food, and then leave her to wake up by herself with a bill stuck to her face! Do you have any idea how much that all cost?!"

"Why would cake make this situation better?! You paying me back would make this situation better!"

"So what if your mother made it?! It's still just... Actually that looks pretty good."

"Ok, but you still need to pay half the bill."

"Deal. A third of the bill for a big slice off your mother's cake and a cup of that tea that compliments the flavour."

"You want to see the General, huh? Well you know the drill. I'll need your weapons."

"How many time do I have to tell you, 'all your weapons'? That includes your gun!"

"Ok, I'll introduce you."

*knock knock*

...

*sigh*

*buzzzt*

"Sir, the liaison from Clave is here to see you again."

A long silence could be heard before the eventual response of, "Show him in."

The door swung open and Ashton walked in to find the General starring out of his office window. From it he could see the city of Atlas. A place of peace and freedom from fear. His strong military would see to the end of any threat with quick and precise decisions.

"It's good to see you again, major." He said, still maintaining watch over his city. "I'm sorry to hear about your father."

Ashton paused and took a breath. The wound was still very fresh.

"He fought hard and lived without regret." Ashton said reassuring himself. "I can only hope that I can carry on and bring the same honour to our family that he did."

"I'm sure you'll do that and more." Said Ironwood as he finally turned to see Ashton. "One issue I have got is the damage done to the central plaza and shop fronts in the battle. My office has been swamped in letters and callers asking what is going to be done about all this." The general took his seat and overlapped his hands just in front of his mouth. "As am I."

Ashton stepped up towards the desk and placed in front of the general, a small sealed envelope. The general starred at it puzzlingly.

"This comes, with apologies, from the Clave army's treasury. I'm told that it should cover the cost, plus some extra." Said Ashton, as he pushed the envelope across the desk.

The general slowly reaches out and picks it from the table, all most as if he was more curious then in need. He broke open the seal and pulled out a cheque that was inside, the amount of which widened his eyes considerable.

"How does a military training facility, which receives no funding from outside parties, manage to pay another city this much for damages?" He asked.

"Our military is what we are most well known for, but remember that we are also weapon builders and have access to many fine metals from under our mountains." Answered Ashton.

"I see." Said the General as he rested the cheque to one side. "Now to another order of business."

Ironwood's expression turned extremely serious, and ranging on angry.

"What did you learn from your fight with Ginodi?"

Ashton paused for it was his turn to wear the shocked expression.

"I did put everything in my report for you."

"And now I'm asking you, face to face." Reiterated the General. "Is there anything you saw or were told when fighting against Ginodi?"

Finally, Ironwood was behaving as his station required. A stern tone, and unwavering resolve to get his answer.

"We were informed that her name was an alias and was actually Indigo." Reported Ashton. "She already had information on both me and my father, and also hinted at the fact that she was holding Markus. After mentioning Markus, her attitude seemed to change. She detected something in my father which she seemed to use to torment him with. That's when I attacked her. She didn't seem at all phased by my sword slash, even though it was launched as fast as I could. She effortlessly dodged it and that's when Markus came in. He divided up me and my father, and that was the last I saw of Indigo. I identified something that is believed to be her ashes, at the end of the battle."

"And that's all?" Asked Ironwood with a more relaxed tone.

"Yes, sir."

"Fair enough. Is there anything else you wished to discuss with me?" Asked the General.

"Well, sir, was there a laboratory or testing facility where Markus specified?"

"We combed the area thoroughly." Said Ironwood. "However, even though we found a room which appeared to have suspicious activity, it held no devices or testing data. If they were there, someone else cleaned up after them."

Ashton squeezed his hand into a tight fist. These people were proving to be strong and well organized.

"I know it's frustrating..." Said Ironwood in an attempt to comfort the clearly distort Young man. "But try not to get yourself upset. I had a spy in my midst, a well trusted comrade no less. But if I took every mistake I made and never forgave myself, all that I'd achieve would be sleepless nights and, undoubtedly, more mistakes."

Ashton looked up from his frustration at the floor, and his fist relaxed.

He took a deep breath in, held it for a second, and slowly let it out.

"Thank you, General."

"You're welcome, Major. Now as to your decision of military. Please don't hesitate if you'd like to enrol with us. To have someone with your skills would be a great asset, and I'm sure that you could learn a lot about Remnant in our academy as well."

"Thank you for the offer, but I'm still weighing my options at the moment." Ashton replied.

"Take your time. You have three days, right?"

Ashton nodded and gave a slight bow.

"In any case, I'll take my leave now."

Ashton looked back up from his bow and saw that Ironwood was stood and offering to shake hands. Ashton took it and they both gave a slight shake. Ashton then turned and made his way out from the office, leaving ironwood to retake his seat. The General pressed a button on his computer keyboard and a holographic screen activated, rising from the desk. The screen displayed several pictures of the equipment used to implant Markus with his dust powered abilities. A couple of keyboard clicks and Ironwood open a new file. The cursor was clicked over the file name, and the General wrote,

'In for a Penny.'

Ashton was now walking the streets coming away from the academy, towards the cake shop where he was going to meet team NKTL. Along the way, he saw the plaza with construction boards up blocking his view of where he and his father fought together for the last time. Making himself lighter and jumping made the boards redundant and allowed Ashton to continue. By now the great chunks of ice had either melted or been removed. So had a lot of the rubble, and the damage to the pipes hand already been repaired. Ashton stopped and looked at the spot where his father said his last words.

"Keep moving forward."

The words still echoed in his mind, but how to fulfil them was providing difficult. He had his destination, thanks to his father's note, but the path was far from clear.

"Excuse me."

Ashton looked over to his side. Two young men stood, one clad in green with two swords and quivers, the other was tall and coated in purple heavy armour and the handle of a weapon could be seen just peeking over his right shoulder.

"Hi," Said the Sword wielder. "We were just wondering if you could tell us anything about what happened here."

"Any information would be ni... " Said the taller man, who seemed to pause half way through what he was saying.

"Hey, Alex."

"Yeah?"

"What kinda sword was this Ashton guy supposed to carry?"


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: Hey all,**

**New day, chapter and challenges for Ashton. The men hunting him have found him, but what does this mean for Ashton's immediate future? **

**Thanks, and please enjoy :) **

* * *

The strangers took a moment before the realization of Ashton's identity. When they suspected that this was in fact Ashton, there was a subtle but clear difference in their body postures.

"Are you Ashton? The guy who helped the townsfolk of Cleat a couple of weeks ago?" Asked Alex.

Ashton was on edge. Who were these two? Are they in league with Indigo? And why was he getting this feeling from them? Almost like a friction to the air that was bringing his sword to sharpened edge.

"I am." Ashton answered cautiously. "Why? Who are you?"

Alex looked back to Razlov, who was stood behind him.

"You can stop now, Razlov." Said Alex. "He can feel it."

And just like that, the tension dissipated. Feeling better, Ashton was only more confused.

"Yeah, sorry about that. We've actually been looking for you." Said the young man. "My name is Alex. Razlov and I are from foresight."

"Really?" Asked Ashton. "Why are two guys, from probably the most notorious academy on Remnant, looking for me?"

"We're on a mission, to evaluate Atlas and its surrounding towns and villages, and extended an invitation to enrol in Foresight." Explained Alex while his statue of a partner was just stood, staring at Ashton. "What you were feeling a second ago was Razlov's bloodlust. We find that the more capable individuals recognize when their being targeted by someone else's thoughts of attack. It basically tells us that you're seasoned, or at least well trained."

Ashton was taking a moment to soak in all he was just told. It's not every day that someone comes up to you and randomly assesses you for a high league Academy.

"So, do I... *clang!*" Ashton's question was interrupted by a sudden attack by Alex with one of his swords.

They both leap away from each other and Ashton kept his eyes on the two strangers.

"What the hell is with you guys?!" Yelled Ashton.

"Sorry. That was another test." Explained Alex as he sheathed his sword.

"And just how many 'tests' should I be expecting?!" Asked Ashton, clearly wound up by the two random warriors. "I mean is that it or should I keep my sword at the ready?!"

"That was it. You can relax now." Said Alex.

Ashton looked towards Razlov and said,

"I will when he does."

Alex looked back to Razlov and noticed that he was being on a constant alert.

"What's wrong, Razlov?"

"He's had his sword unsheathed and in hand since we've seen him." He pointed out. "So I think me being on standby isn't unwarranted."

Alex looked back at Ashton and slowly scanned him with his eyes. Ashton's sword was indeed in his hand, but Ashton wasn't giving off any feelings of aggression. This was surprising to Alex, especially as Ashton was attacked by him just moments ago.

"He isn't giving off any aggression, Raz." Said Alex. "And we did attack him first. I think that gives him the moral high ground here."

Ashton then placed his sword on the ground and reached into his backpack.

"If it'll get you guys to relax I'll wrap it." Ashton said as he pulled out a black sheet of cloth. "I've been meaning to anyway. The police around here flipped out last time I wondered around without something wrapping my sword."

Ashton, with his sword now covered, stood back up and rested his sword across his shoulders.

"So don't you have a proper sheath or sling for it?" Asked Alex.

"No." Answered Ashton. "It's against one of my family's beliefs."

Upon hearing this, the two strangers gave each other a surprised look. Ashton felt Razlov's aggression subside and be replaced with pure curiosity.

"Are you... a Clave?" Asked the stunned giant.

Ashton mimicked Razlov's and Alex's look of surprise.

"Yeah. How'd you guys know about the Clave?"

"The Clave are almost like a myth, back in Foresight." Explained Razlov. "There's groups of people that think the Clave are a made up story to sell metal ore and weapons, which are actually just a cheap profit making idea from the Schnee dust company. But you're telling me that you're a genuine Clave?"

"Born and bred." Answered Ashton. "It's funny to hear that we're basically a myth in curtain places. We know about Foresight. Our elders often compare it to us, and say how it's an invite only academy."

"Which brings us back to us and why we're here." Said Alex, bringing the conversation to a head. "You'd be the perfect example of what we're looking for. How 'bout trying it out?"

"Whoa, hang on." Said Razlov as he puts the brakes on the conversation. "How do we know you're a Clave? Do you have any proof?" He asked Ashton.

Ashton thought for a few seconds with his right hand holding his sword and his left holding his chin as he thought of how he could prove his legitimacy.

"Well, I'm a Major of the Clave army and the first of the new recon division. I'm just not sure about how I'd go about proving that." He explained.

"Well even if he isn't, he obviously has some skills." Said Alex to Razlov. "There's no point in interrogating him."

Realizing this, Ashton relaxed his arm and rested his hand on his hip. But Razlov was still sceptical of Ashton being a Clave.

"Anyway." Said Alex as he changed the subject. "Why did you come onto this side of the construction boards? I mean, we were investigating what happened here. It seems to have been quite the battle."

Ashton's head dropped and his eyes moved back over to the spot on the floor where his father had fallen.

"I was here with my father." He began to explain. "We were in pursuit of someone we believed kidnapped one of our soldiers. What in fact happened was we were led into an ambush. During the battle my father and I were separated. Both of our opponents were formidable. My father's semblance allows him to use his aura like an electric current, but doing so puts his heart through a massive strain. But his opponent was so strong that he didn't have a choice. He used his strongest attack; Nimbus' Judgment, which vaporizes anything his blade passes through to end the battle. This nearly killed him. He was weakened, but my battle was still going on even with help from some reinforcements. I was nearly killed at the end, but my father threw himself in the way of the attack. He died, right here."

Razlov and Alex both recognized the pain Ashton was going through.

A little warmer to the bereaved young swordsman, Razlov's tension went down.

"Our condolences." Said Razlov.

Ashton looked back towards Razlov and saw his sincerity.

"Thank you." He replied before trying to put on a brave smile. "His last words were for me to keep moving forward, and that's what I'm gonna do."

"What happened to the one that landed the attack?" Asked Alex.

This caught Ashton off guard, but he answered, "He was the soldier that was taken captive."

"What?!" Said Alex; looking surprised and shocked.

"He had been brainwashed by the one we chased here. He was captured and received treatment at the end of the battle." Explained Ashton.

"I see." Said Alex.

"Anyway, that reminds me that I'm supposed meet the team that helped me." Ashton said.

"Would you mind if we joined you?" Asked Alex. "This is our first time in Atlas and it would be nice to see some places."

"I suppose being locked in the Foresight grounds for six months would make anyone crave some regular human interaction." Said Razlov.

"What, you were locked up?" Questioned Ashton.

"For our own safety." Explained Alex. "We weren't in prison or anything, but I really shouldn't say much more than that."

Ashton looked at the two strangers and said, "Ok... It's this way."

He was far too familiar with how it feels to be locked up for safety and seclusion. Above the trio, on a building that overlooked the construction site, the edge of a figure could be seen watching the young men. His eyes were particularly focused on Alex. And as he saw them make their way out from the construction site, the metal railing around the edge off the building was starting to creek and groan as he squeezed it in his hands.

In the cake shop, team NKTL were sat sipping coffee while waiting for Ashton to arrive.

"He's taking a while, don't you think?" Lexy said as she sat and stared at her coffee.

"Yeah, but it seemed like he really wanted to see the General about something important." Said Kyte. "I also wouldn't be surprised if he went to the plaza on his way back here."

The team took a moment of silence as they thought about Zcholts and his selfless act.

"Come on guys." Said Nickel. "I'm sure Ashton has thought enough about what has happened. I think we should just try and keep his spirits up."

"Yeah!" Lexy shouted enthusiastically.

A few minutes later, the bells on the door to the shop rang as Ashton pushed it open.

'Now where are those guys?' He thought to himself.

"Ashton! Over here!" Shouted Lexy.

Ashton turned around to look for the source of the voice, and was greeted by a waving hand from behind a mountain of different cakes and pastries.

"Umm, hey guys... What's with buying all the cakes in the shop?" He asked.

"We just thought that we'd do something nice for you to help take your mind off things." Said Lexy.

"This is all... For me?"

"Uh-huh." Nodded Teal.

Ashton just developed a steadily growing twitch in his right eye, as he reached into his inside jacket pocket and pulled out a fork. He carved out the corner of a piece of strawberry shortcake, placed the fork in his mouth and pulled it clean out. The sweet taste of strawberries and smooth cream flooded his mouth, and the sugar rushed his blood. Before anyone knew it, he was equipped with two forks and set to demolishing the spongy mountain.

"If he is a Clave, he doesn't get the concept of 'empty calories'." Said Razlov.

That's when team NKTL became aware of the two strangers' presence, even though they were stood next to Ashton the whole time.

"So... Who're your friends Ashton?" Asked Kyte.

Swallowing a lump of carrot cake, Ashton coughed to clear his throat and said, "This is Alex, the one with all the green, and Razlov, the one with all the purple." Before continuing on his bakery genocide.

Nickel stood up to introduce everyone else.

"Hi, I'm Nickel and this is my team. That's Kyte..."

"Hi."

"Teal..."

"Hello."

"And Lexy."

"Breath Ashton!"

"We make team NKTL from the Atlas academy." Said Nickel as he finished his introductions.

"Nice to meet you." Said Alex, while Razlov simply added,

"Yeah."

"Finished!... Urrghhh." Groaned Ashton as he held his stomach. "Why would you do this to me?" He asked the team as he put his head on the table.

"So..." Said Razlov. "This guy was telling us that he's a Clave?"

"Yeah..." Sighed Teal. "Sometimes it's hard to believe. Or... Really hard to believe. But we have been with him to the Clave castle and everything. That kind 'a proved it for us."

"No way. You've been to the castle?" Alex asked with a hint of excitement in his voice. "What's it like?"

"They're basically on their own planet when it comes to fighting." Kyte described. "They feel such a connection when in battle with someone that they prefer to do so instead of asking how they're doing."

"Well," said Alex, turning to Razlov. "That should help lessen some of your concerns about him joining us."

This comment caught the attention of all of team NKTL and joined them in a shared sense of surprise. Except for Lexy, who also felt her heart sink from the news.

"What do you mean? Who are you guys?" She asked with an uncharacteristic feeling of fragility.

"Well we're here on behalf of Foresight." Said Alex.

A tension started to engulf the table. The team thought of every fact, every rumour and every cover up theory that has come about because of that one academy. The academy that seeked out the best talented fighters to become the greatest hunters in all of Remnant. It was surrounded in both mysterious and romantic stories of heroism and a feel of life always being held together by a thread.

"In fact..." Continued Alex. "... The Atlas academy is on our list of places to inspect for potential students. After checking out what we heard about Ashton, seeing if it was true or not, we planned on coming to check out the potential for recruits."

With this news still settling in, Lexy looked at Ashton and his bloated, half conscious way of slouching in his chair, she grew even more depressed by the news. She kept herself outwardly unaffected by the news; however, there're certain things that siblings can't hind from each other and so Kyte was well aware of her disappointment.

"So, he's going to Foresight?" Asked Lexy.

Alex crossed his arms and said, "Well, we have invited him to join. But if he does is up to him."

"But, Ashton, I thought you were going to join the Atlas academy?" She asked.

Ashton raised his head and revealed his ill looking face. Obviously not feeling too great after his cake vendetta, he let out a burp.

"Excuse me." He said to pardon himself before giving his reply. "Well, as much as I've grown too really like you guys, I don't know if Atlas is the right place for me."

"Oh, is it because of your dad?" Asked Nickel.

"No, I wasn't even thinking of that."

The rest of team NKTL turned and stared at Nickel, as if to say, 'Why bring up his dad, dumb shit!'

"It's more that, Atlas is a military that seems to just be preparing for the same stuff as the Clave." Explained Ashton. "It just doesn't make sense to swap out one for the other. That and it's looking like Clave is gonna join with Atlas in the near future. So anything we have to learn here we'll probably learn either way, if we just give it a few years."

"I see." Said the disappointed Lexy.

Ashton saw her response to his decision and said, "Hey, I'll still have to come home every now and then. And you can bet that I'll come by here every time. If not to see you guys then to eat more of this cake!"

Meanwhile in the background a child cries as its parent tries to cheer it up, whilst on their way out of the store.

"Next time we're in we'll have to get you an extra big slice of cake. How does that sound."

"But I want cake now!" Complained the child.

Feeling no guilt, Ashton just let out another burp. The team just let out a group sigh.

"I guess that'll do." Said Lexy. "But promise you'll visit each time."

Ashton smiled and said, "On my honour, my sword and my family."

Razlov turned to Alex, leaned over and from the corner of his mouth said, "This guy is far too cheery for Foresight."

"Actually, he could be just what we need." Said Alex.

At that moment, a commotion began to attract a crowd outside. Looking through the window, everyone was able to see a group of men wearing black suits and hats with dark green tinted sunglasses and ties. The group appeared to be taking over a nearby dust shop, taking hostages of the staff and customers that were inside. With the city being on alert after the battle with Indigo, it wasn't too long before the building had a perimeter setup by the local policing squadron. Team NKTL shot from their seats and rushed to the door of the bakery.

"Kyte, Teal, Lexy, with me!" Ordered Nickel as he took the lead and ran towards one of the policing team's members. "We're team NKTL from General Ironwood's squadron. What's the situation?" He asked.

"As far as we can tell, it's Senior's gang." Said the police squad member. "They seem to be ransacking the place, taking all dust powders and crystals. They're also holding four customers and one staff member hostage. No demands have been made and they've been in there for close to five minutes. They've only just started to shut the blinds of the shop now. They know we can't risk shooting them now due to the risk of hitting a hostage."

"Have we had eyes on any weaponry?" Asked Teal.

"Before we lost eye contact, we saw them with their usual, swords and axes as well as hand guns and automatic rifles." Answered the squad member.

"Ok. We'll take care of the gang members." Said Nickel. "I want you and your men to hold this distance, keep civilians away and take care of any hostages that get away."

"Yes, sir."

"Hang on." Said Alex.

Team NKTL and the squad member turn to see Alex and Razlov walking up to them and stopping a few steps to their side.

"Oh. Do you guys wanna help out?" Asked Lexy.

"In a manner of speaking." Alex said cryptically. "If you guys could handle the front of the store, but not go in, we can handle the back."

"And?..." Asked Kyte expecting him to continue. "What about the thugs and the hostages?"

"Well..." Said Alex as he rested his right hand on his hip and pointed his left thumb passed his left shoulder. "This could be a perfect time to evaluate our potential new Foresight member."

The team followed the line of sight that Alex was pointing, which lead them all to the same ill looking, oversized sword wielding and bloated Ashton; who let out burp loud enough that the team could hear him from his seat in the cake shop.

"What's he gonna do? Vomit on them?" Said Kyte; who was judging Alex's choice.

Next thing anyone new, Ashton was slowly making his way towards the dust shop.

"Does he seem a bit, not up to this?" Asked Lexy, looking at how Ashton was dragging his sword behind himself instead of his usual posture of hanging the blade over his shoulders.

"He's a Clave." Said Teal. "I'm sure he can fight and make the right decisions in whatever condition he's in."

Ashton slowly pushed open the door. The tension in the street killed all other sounds besides the bell that rang as the door was pushed open and then closed behind Ashton. The rest of the team and onlookers listened from their respective positions.

"Ok, hands where I can see them!"

"Are you deaf?! Hands up, now!"

"What? No, I don't have an anti-acid!"

"No, this is a dust shop! It doesn't sell anti-acid or indigestion tablets!"

"There might be some in the back. I guess I could check..."

"WAIT! WHAT I'M I DOING?!"

"HANDS UP! NOW!"

At that moment, a loud crash could be heard from the store that almost resembled the sound of rubble forming a large pile. Brick dust started to ooze from the doors and windows like smoke.

"What the hell happened down there?!" Asked one thug who was on the second floor, near one of the tinted windows.

"Quickly! He's coming up the stairs!" Said another voice.

A hailstorm of bullets rained down on Ashton as he made his slow assent up the narrow staircase, towards the second floor. At the top of the stairs two of the thugs were emptying their high capacity magazines at Ashton, who was merely holding Starburn up as a shield and making slight adjustments to compensate for the breadth of the blade not being broad enough to cover his whole body. Soon enough the *tick tick tick* sound of empty magazines rang; which was followed by the other members of the gang watching as one, quickly followed by the other, was snatched from the top of the stairs after the sudden appearance of a short blade on a wire. Ashton was using his grapple blade and cable to make the fast movements that he was too full to make. Pulling the intended targets towards him so that he could weigh them down and chuck them to the foot of the stairs.

The rest of the gang saw the two being snatched away and felt the panicked anticipation of waiting for the soldier to show himself. As he got to the top of the stairs, Ashton took a quick look around and gave another burp. The room opened to the left of the stairs and had the same large floor space as the first floor. Except, instead of smashed display cabinets it had office desks which had been turned over for cover. There were two over turned desks which had two of the hostages tied up in front of each desk, with the fifth being used as a human shield by one of the gangsters.

"Drop your sword or I drop the old man!" Demanded the thug.

The old man was in fact the shop owner and Ashton could tell that he was in fear for his life as the muzzle of the thug's hand gun pressed against his neck. Ashton saw in the reflection of the tinted windows, that there were two other thugs hidden behind the desks which were armed with hatchets. Ashton dropped his sword to the ground, but as it fell, he drew his revolver and aimed it at the gun toting gangster.

"Drop it or I'll blow his head off!" Demanded the thug.

Ashton looked carefully down the sights of Moonshine. His hand was shaking from his blood sugar being through the roof and the room was spinning with his nausea. He let out another burp and squeezed the trigger. The bullet passed the gangster's head and shattered the window behind him. Ashton then dropped the gun, fell to his knees and proceeded to empty his stomach of the cake that had been weighing him down. The thug took a moment as his heart return to a normal rhythm, after having a large calibre bullet pass right by his head.

"ARE YOU CRAZY?! YOU WANT ME TO SHOOT THIS GUY?!" The thug shouted.

He then took a couple of deep breaths and re-gathered himself.

"Well you've wasted your shot and we've got another hostage." He said, pointing the gun at Ashton. "I guess we're squa..."

The thug was interrupted by a sudden feeling of something slamming into back of his right shoulder, which at first just made him flinch slightly, and was followed by a warm feeling running down his body. The gun slipped from his hand and the old man quickly moved to the wall of the room. The gangster fell to his knees and looked to partners behind the tables. Both of them had a single arrow with green fletching in the same part of their backs as he was feeling the warmth leeching from his.

'Was I hit too?' He asked himself.

He then fell and landed flat on his back. Looking to his shoulder, he now saw the shaft of an arrow with the metal, wide 'v' shaped hunter's arrowhead at its tip. Landing on his back forced the arrow all the way through. Meanwhile, Alex was outside and had just landed on the ground after Razlov had thrown him down the street at the perfect height and distance for him to see into the room and release an arrow into the back of each gangster in it. Ashton took out the window to make sure the shot could be made. The thug with the gun never really intended to shoot the old man, Ashton could see it in his eyes. However, the ones taking cover were afraid and that meant that if Ashton tried to rush them, they would be more likely to attack a hostage. And if the first thug didn't, the second would definitely.

"Well it wasn't quite a 'spec ops' level execution, but he got the job done." Commented Alex as he walked back up to Razlov.

"Are you serious?! He destroyed the bottom floor!" Ridiculed Razlov, as he looked in through the back door that had been blown off its hinges. "I'm not sure how, but it looks like he collapsed the floor into the sewer below!"

Both the members of Foresight peered into the darkness and saw the unconscious bodies of five gangsters and no hostages.

"An outrageous level of destruction, in the moment judgement and an opportunity for refinement... He was made for Foresight." Said Alex; which was followed by Razlov staring at him with a look that was both frustrated and questioning. "Do I need to remind you of what you did on your first mission, Razlov?"

Razlov let out a sigh and just said out loud to himself, "Welcome to the team, Ashton."

A familiar looking crow flew overhead with a strange look in its eye. The same darkened room held a large monitor with an exited man watching the images he was seeing, although you'd never know by looking at him. His eyes stayed focused at the screen as Indigo walked up alongside him.

"Is the next ready yet?!" Asked Indigo with an impatient tone.

Something wasn't quite right with her. Her clothes were tattered, portions of her arms were wrapped in white bandages and her hair was dishevelled and covering the left of her face. Her desperate tone and miss-dress did nothing to draw the man's gaze from the monitor's screen.

"Hey! I'm taking to you!" She yelled while pulling at his shoulder. "Stitch!" She roared.

Suddenly, Indigo was fired across the room and smashed into the wall furthest from the screen which Stitch's eyes were glued to. The only obvious movement that he had preformed was standing up from his chair. His slouched over posture and tall, thin physique was outlined by the light cast by the monitor. His expression never changed despite his emotions travelling from excitement to blind furry and back again.

"This is incredible." He said softly. "To see such characters of my interests come together in such a fortuitous way. Like seeing your favourite TV characters appear on the same show for an episode of amazing entertainment. Such interesting and thought provoking things happen on my screen..." He turns to look at Indigo from over his left shoulder. "And you cause such a racket as to almost ruin the moment. All for what?"

He suddenly appeared in front of Indigo which pushed her into absolute fear. He then grabbed a chunk of her hair and lifted her from the ground and into the light of the monitor.

"All because you're starting to show your age?" He asked while staring at her half wrinkled and grey face. "This event is probably the single most important in the past decade and you're worried about something you could cover up with Botox injections. Pitiful, simply pitiful."

"I-I just wanted to know..." She said with a quivering voice. "How much longer the next would take."

"Not half as long as it would take me to sow up your pretty mouth." He raised his spare hand and placed it over the wrinkled half of Indigo's face. "This will slow down your deterioration for now. So shut up and leave me to my studies."

Removing his hand revealed that Indigo's wrinkled half now had bandages covering it. Stitch then placed a finger on her wrapped face which seemed to produce dancing black threads that forced their way through the bandages' weave and securing them to her face. She of course screamed as the threads made their way through her skin, but this didn't deter Stitch from continuing. Finally finished, he dropped her to the floor and turned to slowly walk back to his chair. Indigo slowly rose to her feet, clutching her face with her hand. And as Stitch continued to watch the screen she looked up to the back of his chair with a smile of her face and tears of pain rolling down the exposed, right, side of her face.

"Thank you." She said sincerely.

She then slowly made her way towards the door and exited the room. Just as she did so, another figure on the screen raised Stitch's excitement. Overlooking the young Foresight hunters was something else. Not a creature, but it had a blood lust which far exceeded any man. Like any good hunter, this figure kept itself far enough away to not be sensed by the warriors and close enough to strike when the moment was right. Seeing Alex and his bow skills may as well have been an invitation to the rampage that this person imagined for the entire city. The figure squeezed its broad fists tightly, cracking the knuckles as he did. So much self restraint just to keep himself in place.

"This should be... interesting." Said Stitch without a smile on his face, but roaring with eager anticipation in his soul.


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Hey all,**

**I think it's about time to add some excitement to the story,don't you?**

**Thanks, and please enjoy :)**

* * *

A ladder to the dust shop's second floor window allowed all the hostages to exit the building and let the first response medical team see to the gangsters. Five were buried in rubble with multiple fractures, two were unconscious on the stairs with massive concussions and three were on the second floor with punctured lungs. However, the purpose of the hostage situation was still a mystery. The gangster with the most minor injuries was questioned on the scene and revealed that neither the money nor dust was the target. The old man who owned the shop confirmed this with a statement, in which he described how the men came in from both entrances and immediately moved the customers and staff to the second floor. As soon as the men restrained the hostages they set up ready for the police to try and negotiate. But the shop owner never heard the men open a single cash register or smash open a single display case for its crystals. So everyone was left with the same question.

"What was their motive?" Questioned Nickel.

Everyone, at this stage, was gathered back at the front of the shop.

"The guy that was questioned before going to hospital didn't know?" Asked Lexy.

"He was apparently told to just stand his ground and that there would be an escape provided. He wasn't told anymore than that." Answered Razlov.

"And you trust that answer?" Asked Teal.

"Well..." Said Razlov as he crossed his arms. "His forearm was broken from the rubble. Any extra broken fingers could have happened at the same time."

"Did they?" Asked Teal.

Razlov didn't reply. Instead he simply looked to the corner of his eyes and grew a small smirk.

"Is it ok if this guy scares me?" Whispered Lexy into Kyte's ear.

Alex and Ashton were stood away from the others and were looking in through the broken shop window.

"You feeling better?" Asked Alex.

"Yeah, much better, thanks." Replied Ashton. "Such a shame though."

"Yeah, but the insurance will pay for the damages. I asked the old guy who owns the place and he said that he was thinking of moving elsewhere anyway. So we'll have to keep our eyes open for a 'Dust Till Dawn' shop in Vale, should we find ourselves down that way. It'll be safer for small businesses anyway. Nothing exciting ever happens down there."

Ashton just looked at Alex with a vacant look.

"What?" Alex asked.

"I was talking about the waste of cake." Ashton answered.

Alex took a deep breath and let out a sigh.

'I guess we've got to get used to him. At least for now.' He thought to himself... Or did he?

'I honestly have no idea what you're thinking, Alex.' Responded an inner voice. 'Bubbly people tend not to do well in Foresight. There's a lot of situations where he'll question himself, his abilities and everything that he thinks he knows to life.'

'I've never known you to be concerned about people's mental wellbeing, Arras.' Alex thought. 'Are you unwell?'

'What are you talking about?' Questioned the voice. 'Another opportunity to see someone else's mind snap under pressure of life or death; and until then a guy who can turn a simple hostage rescue into a disaster zone. I'm excited to see how things turn out.'

"So, are we going on why these guys attacked a shop in broad daylight?" Questioned Razlov; braking Alex from his trance.

"What lead is that?" Asked Lexy, which made her brother put a palm over his face with frustration and embarrassment.

"Do you never pay attention?!" Kyte asked angrily. "We were told from the start. They're Senior's men, right? So we should go at have a talk to Senior."

"Nope." Interrupted Nickel.

Team NKTL looked at him with a shared look of bewilderment.

"What? Why not?" Asked Kyte in a fluster.

Nickel folded his arms across his chest.

"We should report what's happened to the General." He explained. "This is an extremely bold move made by a, usually tame, second rate gang. Something must have come up to motivate Senior. So we will check who else has been making waves recently."

"It is very unorthodox." Agreed Teal. "Even for a criminal gang."

"So whilst we're doing that, you guys can wait for us in the cake shop." Suggested Nickel. "We shouldn't be too long."

"Ok." Said Alex. "We'll see you when you get back."

Team NKTL turned to leave and Alex and Ashton gave them a slight wave whilst Razlov just started staring in the opposite direction.

"So we're going to the gang's hideout, right?" Asked Ashton while still waving.

"Duh." Replied Alex; also maintaining his wave.

With the team now out of sight, the remaining trio set their sights on Senior's hideout.

"Are you guys sure this is it?" Asked Ashton. "It doesn't look anything like I'd imagine."

The three were stood outside a traditional looking pub. Big windows, wooden features and a sign swinging from above the door, which said the pub's name, 'The Senior's'.

"And what exactly did you imagine?" Asked Razlov.

"Well a darkened alley, a door that needed a special knock, secret hand shake. That kinda thing." Explained Ashton.

"What did ya that idea from?" Mocked Razlov. "It sounds like it's straight out of a bad movie."

Ashton scratched the back of his head and put on a goofy smile.

"Well we don't have gangsters and crime syndicates back home. So movies are our only example of what a gangster hideout should be like." Said Ashton.

Razlov sighed and said, "Well I guess that's another point to you actually being in this 'secret warrior society'... Or a hermit."

Alex sniggered at Razlov's comment.

"Well..." Said Alex. "We're not gonna learn anything if we stare at the door all day."

And with that Alex pushed open the double doors and the trio stepped inside. It was surprisingly spacious inside the tavern, despite its unassuming exterior. There were dozens of long wooden tables and stools. The bar was large and had several men in the same clothes as the hostage takers. Behind the bar was a flight of stairs which lead to a room in the second floor and presumably Senior. As Alex, Razlov and Ashton made their way to the bar a large number of people sat at tables were taking notice of them.

"Hi there." Said Alex, addressing one of the barmen.

"Before you start, boy, we don't serve minors." Said the gangster.

"That's good, because we're not thirsty. But we wouldn't mind a conversation." Said Alex.

"Oh yeah? with who?" Asked the gangster, with a little laughter in his voice.

*CRASH*

Ashton brought his hand down onto the bar knocking a glass onto its side.

"We wanna see the guy who's given' the who, whats and wheres of the establishment." He said in his best gangster accent.

An awkward silence washed over the pub.

"Ashton."

"Yeah, Alex."

"Never do that again."

"Sorry." Said Ashton as he removed his hand from the bar. "I'll just..."

"Stand there." Interrupted Razlov. "You'll just... Stand there."

Ashton returned to scratching the back of his head with a smile on his face.

"Anyway..." Said Alex; trying to get the conversation back on track. "We would like to see Senior."

This request brought the pub to another dead silence, but this time an overwhelming bloodlust filled the air. Everyone who wasn't a gang member soon left the pub through an obvious fear for their safety, leaving approximately 30 gangsters in the tavern.

"Well, he doesn't wanna see anyone today. Got it?" Enforced the barman.

"We could cover his eyes, if that would make him more comfortable while he talks to us." Said Razlov, which quickly got a raise from the gangster.

"Are you guys still testing me, by the way?" Asked Ashton as he rested Starburn up against the bar.

Alex turned around and leaned against the bar.

"We could be." He answered. "To be honest, Foresight members are always getting assessed by committees, teachers and peers, so it's safe to assume that the answer is always 'yes'."

Ashton then drew Moonshine and placed it on the bar.

"Then I choose this test for myself." He said as the aura around him started to glow.

Alex closed his eyes and smiled.

"Have at it, then." He said, signalling for Ashton to go for it.

Ashton heard the sound of blades being drawn behind him, but he kicked the bar to send his super lightened body backwards and passed the first two potential attackers. A punch delivered simultaneously to both of the thugs' stomachs as they turned to face him soon rendered them unconscious. He then set of towards the next group of five gangsters, evading there attacks and delivering powerful one hit knockout blows. The fifth member of the group was then thrown at the next group. Ashton followed from group to group and the barman sweated as his backup was whittled down with ever second.

He turned to another one of the barmen and said, "Get the Doorman."

The fellow barman gave a nod and pressed a button under the bar that let out a loud *buzzztttt*. And as Ashton held the last gangster by the scruff of his cloths, a loud serious of slow footsteps shook the floor. Ashton punched out the guy before dropping him, flat on his back, so that he could be ready for the source of the footsteps. Off to the side of the bar was a set of doors which both started to open. A colossal man stepped then through them. He had arms like tree trunks and shoulders like boulders. His towering height and strong frame was rarely needed in the bar, but when he was needed, he always came out on top. He was the boss's personal bodyguard and the only doorman needed at the pub. He looked down at Ashton who was only at his belly button level and saw what he'd been up to. He squeezed his fists tight, which was made more intimidating by the gauntlets he was wearing. No doubt that they were made for him. The metal covered the fists and forearms of both arms, and coating the metal was rings of chainsaw blades. The chains covered every finger of his hands as well, to add extra damage to his Ursa like blows. He raised his fist up high above Ashton's head and brought it down, splintering the wooden floorboards where Ashton stood. He pulled his fist from the floor and gave a deep chuckle at the thought of his foe being smashed into the basement.

"Hey Ashton, I want this guy." Said Razlov as he started to make his way toward the goliath.

"Ashton... Was that his name?" Asked the bruiser with another chuckle.

"That's fine with me, you can have him."

"Huh?" Said the confused giant as he glanced up.

Hanging upside down from a set of hanging lights, Ashton was looking rather unimpressed.

"He's got quite a lot of power, but his size gives him plenty of blind spots." Said Ashton, assessing the Doorman. "He never saw me run between his legs and he was so into that punch, he never felt me jump off his back to get up here. Being a big guy yourself, you may find him more entertaining."

Razlov was indeed taller and more muscular than Ashton, but he still only came half way up the giant's chest. Ashton leapt from the light and landed softly next to Alex who was smiling at Razlov. Not many people can tell when Razlov was excited, but Alex could tell by just being in the room with him.

"The first time is lucky!" Roared the giant as he raised his arm above his head.

The doorman brought his arm down in the same way as before, only this time his target didn't evade him. A loud crash sounded and to the doorman's shock and surprise, Razlov stood his ground. The blow clashed against the armour of Razlov's left forearm as he held it above his head as a shield against the bladed blow. It was at this time, with the goliath's shocked expression, that Razlov used his spare right hand to pull a linchpin from the side of his armour. He then struck his breast plate with his fist and layers of metal fell away from his body.

"He's shedding his armour?" Questioned Ashton.

"Yeah..." Answered Alex. "He doesn't get to fight many people bigger than him, so he tends to take of his limiting armour. You see despite his size, Raz is just as quick and coordinated as anyone could hope to be. So to make fighting more interesting he sometimes wears extra armour to slow himself down. It's his way of giving his opponents a handicap."

With all armour but a leather back, shoulder plates, his chest plate and forearm braces left to defend him, Razlov was ready to show his skills. He pulled back his right arm, clenched his fist and planted it so hard into the doorman's stomach the impression of his fist was nearly visible through his back. The doorman stumbled backwards, coughing from Razlov's single punch.

"Come on!" Complained Razlov. "If I knew you were going to be that easy to put down I wouldn't have taken off my armour! Seriously, do you have any idea how long it takes for me to put it all on?"

Infuriated by the cocky comment, the giant clenched his fists and let out a bellowing roar. The sound of metal scraping soon started to squeal throughout the pub as the chain saw blades of the doorman's gauntlets started to quickly spin and turned his punches into even more of devastating attacks. The roaring metal punches were swung with powerful haymakers and crosses which were dodged or deflected by Razlov's ducking and weaving. Razlov then stepped in towards the huge gangster and delivered a counter punch with his right fist, but this opened an opportunity for the giant. A quick slam aimed at Razlov's left side was protected by his left forearm armour, but knocked him of balance and stopped his attack. The giant's left arm then came in which Razlov had to block with the right forearm. This now lead to Razlov being pinned between both the doorman's arms and unable to move.

The sound of metal grinding against metal was filling the pub as Razlov held the giant's arms at bay. But after a few seconds of the stalemate, the doorman brought his leg forward and delivered a straight kick to Razlov's chest plate. This shot him out from the giant's arms and across the room. Razlov managed to land with his feet on the floor and maintained his balance as he came to a stop. As he stood, he changed his posture and begun to look more focused and relaxed. This moment of Zen wasn't even interrupted by the loud thuds of the doorman running at him to deliver his next strike. His gauntlets roared as the doorman swung at Razlov with an extremely powerful right cross, only to have it be stopped by the target with a single hand. The giant kept the pressure of his punch bearing down at Razlov, but the tearing blades couldn't reach through Razlov's aura coated palm. And as Razlov's hand slowly started to close around the fist, the giant started to let out a scream of pain as his gauntlet started to crush his hand. Just as the doorman's fist started to resemble a stepped on can, Razlov then swung his leg around and kicked the giant on the side of the head, launching him in between the spectating Alex and Ashton and sprawled him over the bar.

Seeing this, the barman was shocked and could just about muster enough will power to press a button that was hidden beneath the bar. With this, the doors to Senior were unlocked and Razlov made his way back to the bar. Ashton took notice of the now unconscious doorman, as he suddenly began to shrink in size.

"Thought as much." Commented Razlov as the giant's size continued to reduce.

"Is this his semblance...?" Queried Ashton.

"Yeah. He's a maximizer." Answered Razlov. "It's like he uses his aura to influence the size of his body by casting his aura outwardly and focusing. I could tell from how his body felt during that punch I hit him with. The biggest give away is that he's got the powers of someone that size, but his weight doesn't match up."

"Oh. So that's how you sent him flying with a kick." Ashton said in realization.

"And it's how Raz crushed the guy's hand. He overcame his opponent's aura output with his own." Explained Alex. "But if the guy was that big, no doubt Raz would've still sent him flying with a kick like that."

"Anyway, enough with the chit chat." Said Razlov; obviously a little disappointed by his defeated opponent. "Let's go and see Senior."

The trio preceded though an opening in the bar and walked up the stairs. The bartenders that were left slowly moved their hands under the bar and pulled out their various weapons. They then looked back towards the foot of the stairs only to see Razlov stood in their way with his arms crossed in front of him and a very unimpressed look on his face. The gangsters then made the smartest decision of their day; they dropped the weapons and turned tail. Now at the top of the stairs, Razlov, Alex and Ashton were at a door. The idea being that on the other side, Senior was ready and waiting for them.

"He's probably armed." Pointed out Razlov.

"Gangsters often are." Agreed Alex. "What do you think he's got?"

"I'm gonna guess... An automatic." Wagered Razlov.

"Naa. This whole place screams a shotgun." Argued Alex.

"10 lien?"

"10 lien." The two agreed.

They threw open the door and entered the room swiftly. However, what they saw as they came in, brought them to a shocked stop. The room was completely wrecked, with several dead bodies of gangsters.

"What the hell happened here?" Questioned Alex.

Ashton was scanning the room with his eyes and was paying particular attention to the carpeted floor.

"There was a big fight. Four gangsters and one other." He deduced.

"Umm. What?" Asked Alex.

Ashton pointed at the various pieces of evidence around in the room.

"You can see the impressions in the floor, the directions of shots fired and who shot what by the guns and the bullet hole in the opposite wall and the injuries on the bodies are consistent. That shows you that it was done by the same weapon." Explained Ashton.

Taking out the gangsters downstairs was one thing, but now with him showing off his ability to analyze the scene of a fight in seconds? Alex and Razlov were started to doubt if this was the same guy that they saw eat a mountain of cake, not two hours earlier.

Shaking off his impressed look, Razlov then asked, "Could you tell what type of weapon was used?"

"Let me take a closer look." Ashton replied before squatting down to examine a single, mangled leg that was hidden beneath a desk. "Well, we might be looking at two weapons or one weapon with multiple features."

"What makes you say that?" Asked Alex.

"The injuries on the other guys were caused by a weapon with many edges but still quite round. Like a cannon ball with spikes and grooves. But can you see how the fabric around this wound is all torn up and the leg has been crushed?"

Razlov and Alex examined the wound but didn't say anything to allow Ashton to finish speaking.

"I think that this guy had his leg slowly crushed by a weapon that spun. I'm not too sure why though." Ashton said as he stood back up and scratched the top of his head.

"Wait there's something else up with that wound." Said Alex as he took a closer look.

Alex gentle picked a piece of the fabric that was embedded in it and slowly lifted it from the mashed limb. A small trickle of blood started to fill the space left by the material.

"It's still bleeding... This guy's alive!" He shouted.

"Do you guys know first aid?" Asked Ashton.

"What? Didn't they teach you that in 'Clave academy'?" Asked Razlov; with his continued tone of scepticism.

"We're trained in some, but not to this extent. And the Clave castle is not an academy." Replied Ashton; who obviously was getting fed up by Razlov's insinuations.

"I can handle it." Said Alex; holding one hand Palm up.

Ashton watched as the air above Alex's hand started to shimmer, like it was being exposed to a great source of heat. A second later, Alex's hand ignited in green flames. Shimmering and emerald, the fire on Alex's palm was an entrancing semblance.

"Are you going to cauterize it?" Asked Ashton.

"No. I've got just the right ability for this." Alex answered as he tilted his hand over the injury.

The fire seemed to almost pour from Alex's hand and onto the wound. And although the skin and flesh appeared to sizzle, as if being cooked, the bone fragments started to reset into shape and the muscle grew and was recoated by skin. Razlov slowly lifted the table off the injured man and placed it to one side. This revealed the rest of his injuries.

"Body wide scrapes and bruises, rib fractures, elbow and shoulder dislocation of the right arm, this guy really went through the mill." Said Ashton as he examined the injured man.

"That's fine. I'll just increase my fire." Said Alex as he stood above the man with his palm facing down.

Ashton looked with intrigue.

'Is he going to pour more of that fire on him?' He thought to himself.

The man wasn't so much as poured with fire, as he was suddenly engulfed in a flaming vortex. The swirling fires only lasted a moment, and when they subsided, they left the man with his eyelids flickering as he slowly returned to consciousness.

"Hey, can you hear us?" Asked Alex.

The man let out a groan as he opened his eyes and tried to sit up.

"Whoa whoa whoa. You don't wanna try and get up." Said Alex. "I healed you so you won't die, but you're still in bad shape. Do you remember your name?"

The man sat up and replied with, "Who wants to know?"

"My name is Alex. What happened to you?"

"We were attacked by this guy last night. Big fella, broad shoulders and as stone faced as you can imagine."

"We came here to investigate the reason why a dust shop in the town centre was the scene of a hostage takeover." Said Razlov; getting to the point. "Do you know anything about that?"

The man grabbed his leg as memories of what had happened flooded back. His breathing got quicker and shallow.

"That bastard!" He said angrily. "That bastard... broke my leg! He... had these maces..."

Alex and Razlov's expressions slowly turned to look more and more panicked as the image of the assailant grew in their minds.

"They were the length of his arms and... had these big heads. At first, they looked almost like... closed pine cones. And they deployed these edges from them. Once he did that we open fired at him. Not that he minded. He basically just whipped us out. I mean, it was just a few seconds of carnage and whatever we hit him with just seemed to do nothing. Once he killed everyone else, he pinned me down, and that is when he gave me a sheet of paper and told me to read from it. I refused at first and he snapped my leg like a carrot with a single hit. That wasn't enough for him, so with that mace still embedded into my leg... he... he pulled a trigger which made the head of the mace spin. It twisted and tore at my leg." The man's breathing got even more erratic. "I... had to do what he said. The pain was..."

"It's ok. The pain is gone now." Said Ashton comfortingly; as Alex and Razlov were in a state of shock themselves. "What was it he got you to read?"

"It was orders; for the gang to hold up that dust shop for ransom. He recorded my voice and played it to one of the guys over a phone."

Ashton turned to look at Alex and Razlov. The two were obviously in an 'on guard' state of mind.

"Guys, are you ok?" Asked Ashton.

"Did he say or do anything else?" Asked Alex, almost terrified of the answer.

The injured man thought hard and replied with, "Yeah. He said something under his breath while he was leaving. He said, 'That's the bait taken care off.' I tried to shoot him in the back with my shotgun, which did nothing. And then he flipped that desk across the room at me, and the next thing I know, you guys are stood over me."

The tension in the room grew as Alex and Razlov contemplated the meaning of the man's words.

"Razlov, do you know what this means?" Asked Alex.

"Yeah." He replied with a shared feeling of vulnerability.

"Yeah." Said Ashton thinking he was in the loop. "Looks like Razlov is down 10 big ones."

"Yeah... Wait, what?" Said Razlov realize that Ashton had no idea of the danger they were in. "No! This is a trap! We need to get out of the building cautiously and ready for an attack."

"Razlov's right." Said Alex. "We need to get everyone in the area out of here; because if this was all bait, this is the trap."

Outside of the building, a loud commotion could be heard along with the squeal of tires and a revving engine. Alex darted across the room to the window, tore the blind out off the way and saw a large fuel tanker driving down the road towards the pub. It was smashing other vehicles out off its way, as it continued its collision course.

"Raz, evac'!" Shouted Alex.

Razlov drew his hammer from his back, extended the handle for use with both hand, and pulled a trigger on a part of the grip with charged the head with a kind of silvery dust energy. Razlov ran at the opposite wall and with a roar he struck it with his weapon. The energy seemed to transfer from the hammer head to the wall and blew a huge section of the wall and ceiling away. This made an easier exit for the team who managed to escape just before the tanker, and its fuel, smashed into the building and exploded into fireball. The pub was destroyed and ablaze and across the street, clear of the blast, the three hunters landed safely. Razlov turned to face the carnage with his weapon at the ready, as Alex faced the opposite direction with his swords clicked together, hilt to hilt, to form his bow. Meanwhile, Ashton landed and gently placed the injured man that he saved up against a building.

"You should try and stay out of trouble. Get to a hospital or something." Ashton suggest to him before gripping Starburn ready for a fight.

Ashton joined Razlov and Alex in their formation by standing between them, ready to assist either one of them.

"So, who wants to clue me in?" Asked Ashton. "You guys know who we're dealing with, right?"

"His name is Geralt." Said Alex. "A former member of Foresight. He's wanted by the academy for the killing of innocents, the killing of other Foresight members and for planning attacks on the Foresight academy."

"He's also not Alex's biggest fan; but more on that later!" Said Razlov. "Just remember to always keep up your guard. He can attack from anywhere at any time."

"Gotcha." Replied Ashton. "What can you tell me about him that the gangster guy hasn't already said?"

"Well, probably the most deadly part of this guy is his semblance." Alex started to explain. "Whatever you do, don't..."

At that moment a car smashed through the wall Ashton had his back to, which slammed into him. Through the following dust, Geralt appeared and slammed both of his maces into the car. This nearly folded the car in two, but launched both the vehicle and Ashton of into the distance.

"Shit! He got Ashton!" Shouted Alex.

"Concentrate on us, Alex! Otherwise we'll be next!" Razlov said to get Alex to focus.

Razlov became coated in a silvery white aura as he began the counter attack. He pulled a trigger on his hammer which fired off its head, which was connected by a chain to the handle. This fired behind Geralt, as he was still facing away from them after launching Ashton away, and Alex shot an arrow at the head which wrapped the chain around Geralt. This was followed up by Alex firing an arrow at Geralt's feet that exploded and sent him flying. Razlov now had control over him whilst he was in the air and continued to swing him around and released him from the chain throwing him into the burning pub. The section of the building that he slammed into soon came crumbling down around him. But any hope was short lived as he quickly emerged from the rubble and began running back at Razlov.

The fury of attack Geralt threw was nearly too much for Razlov to evade. What's more is Geralt was making it nearly impossible for Alex to fire at by continuing to keep Razlov between him and Alex. Having to worry about catching friends in the crossfire was never something Geralt cared for, but knew how to exploit it. Razlov then jumped in the air above Geralt and swung a heavy blow down which he blocked with the tip of one mace. But this did get Razlov out of the way, so the Alex could lose some arrows. However, the sound of an engine, like a chainsaw, could be heard and both heads of Geralt's maces began to rapidly spin. The one defending against Razlov's attack threw Razlov off balance whilst in the air. The other mace was used to deflect all three arrows that Alex was able to shoot at him. With Razlov out of the way and Alex detaching his bow into two swords again, Geralt sprinted at Alex. And with his weapon swing primed and Alex now in range, apart from a last ditch jump backwards, Geralt was about to slam Alex with a blow dedicated to kill.

Knowing this Alex raised his swords as a shield, summoned small green flames all over his body to heal him, and braced for the strike. Alex scrunched his eyes in a flinch as he heard a loud *crash* right in front of him. He opened his eyes to see a familiar car smashed on the ground right where Geralt was stood. It had fell from above and landed on the unsuspecting murderer just before his attack could land. Landing on top of the wreckage was a slightly dishevelled looking Ashton who, as he landed on the car with blue eyes and crushing it, had a furious look on his face.

"NOT FUN HAVING CARS THROWN AT YOU IS IT, JACKASS!"

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**A/N: So Ashton may have made some more friends, but what shadows have followed them? My guess is you'll have to read the next chapter and find out next time ;p**

**Thanks for reading,**

**ManxMG **


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: Hey all, **

**I hope I have your attention for what's coming up next. The name of the game is survival against what is one of the most feared man to ever go against members of Foresight. Let chaos commence.**

* * *

"Ashton, move!" Shouted Alex as he took to the air above the compacted car.

Ashton didn't need to be told twice and quickly shifted from the top of the vehicle. Alex then drew five arrows and shot them around the crushed car. The arrows imbedded the ground, in a perfect circle, before a green glyph shone and revealed that the arrows had landed in on the tips of a star. Alex and Razlov then regrouped with Ashton to decide their next move.

"We don't have long. My pentagram prison will only last for another 40 seconds." Said Alex. "How did you pin him down just now?"

"My semblance allows me to control the weight of things I have direct and secondary contact with." Ashton explained. "I reduced the weight of the car before I landed, so I could jump straight up without crashing into the ground first. Then I weighted it down while it was above his head. Are we even sure he can fight after that? I mean, that car is three times its original weight."

"It was a good hit, but he has the ability to absorb the energy of all physical attacks and use that energy in his own." Informed Razlov. "What you did was catching him by surprise and stalled him. Trust me, he isn't dead."

"Our priority is the safety of the civilians. We need to lead him away from the city and into the forest."

The pentagram's light began to fade.

"Alex, we need Arras." Said Razlov.

"We don't have time for reinforcements." Said Ashton. "We have 15 seconds to come up with a plan."

"I won't use Arras until we absolutely have to. There's no telling what he might do in this situation. He could just leave you guys for bait."

"That a risk we'll have to take, Alex!" Shouted Razlov.

"I don't get it guys. Who is Arras?" Asked Ashton cluelessly.

The glyph then fully faded and a creaking and groaning came from the car as it was starting to lift from the ground. Ashton drew Moonshine and fired off six blue rounds at the car, weighing it down further. The car slammed back to its original position and then deeper into the ground.

"That should buy us a little more time." Ashton said as he ejected the spent casings from his revolver and pulled six more blue rounds from his pocket. "I can also increase the weight of things a shoot with these blue bullets." He explained, holding one out for Alex and Razlov to see and loading the rest into the gun.

A further creaking of metal could be heard before the car suddenly vanished into the ground. There was a second of silence whilst the warriors tried to understand what had happened.

"Times up!" Alerted Razlov. "That was him being broken into sewers below! Alex we don't have time to debate this!"

From under the ground the familiar sound of the maces' revving could be heard and a patch of the street began the warp from its structural integrity being demolished.

"Last chance, Alex!" Said Razlov.

Alex held his swords tightly as he dealt with the frustrations of his lack of choice. He closed his eyes for a moment and the ground gave way, releasing the furious Geralt to continue his attacks. Alex reopened his eyes and avoided the flurry of attacks with ease. It was as if his speed had almost tripled to make the swings of Geralt's maces look like slow motion. A backhanded swing with Geralt's maces made for a prefect springboard for Alex to jump off and gain some distance. He landed just behind both Ashton and Razlov before letting out a chuckle.

"So, you're the Clave? Thank God for Geralt or we might not have ever met."

Ashton gave a small glance back towards Alex, who seemed to have suddenly picked up a whole new tone to his voice. Even his aura presence felt drastically different. And when Ashton's eyes met the transformed Alex, his questions were answered. Red eyes were glowing in place of Alex's silver. His fighting posture was completely different. More aggressive and yet relaxed. This wasn't the same man whom had been talking moments ago.

"I take it that this will be explained to me later?" Asked Ashton as he returned his eyes to Geralt.

"That's if we survive, then yeah, I guess so." Replied the red eyed hunter. "For now, just call me Arras."

"So; Arras, what's the plan?" Asked Ashton.

The ground began to tremble as Geralt built up his aura and stomped the floor as he ran in for his next attack.

"Well..." Began Arras. "Razlov, you go and get a message to the closest Hanta-Kira squad. I'll hold him here for as long as I can, with the assistance of our new associate of course."

Razlov paused for a moment as Geralt got closer. He was hesitant about leaving Arras in this position and Ashton with both Geralt and Arras. Either one would kill him if it meant victory or survival. But Razlov had to admit to himself that the strongest feature of Arras was his instinct to survive, and calling for the Hanta-Kira was their best shot at survival.

"Ashton!" Shouted Razlov. "Stay alive until I return and I'll acknowledge you as a true Clave! Deal?"

Ashton grew a big smile across his face and replied, "Deal!"

With that, Razlov turned from the battlefield and began to run. Geralt knew what such an action meant and so threw one of his maces at Razlov's back. However, that mace was snared by Ashton's grapple blade. It didn't stop, to Ashton's surprise; instead it continued on its path and pulled almost every meter of cable from Starburn's handle. Thankfully, Ashton was able to weigh the mace to the ground before it met Razlov and brought an end to the hope of reinforcements.

"Right then, MrClave." Said Arras as Razlov vanished from sight. "Let's see if we can stay alive, shall we?"

And with that Arras began a counter assault on Geralt. He seemed to instantly appear next to the raging terrorist and began swiping with his blades and somersaulting to dodge Geralt's counters while Ashton reeled in his cable. Ashton stood by and watched carefully at the fight, learning what he could and making theories about everything that he couldn't learn by watching. Geralt's fighting style was broad and rash. If He didn't have to ability to absorb damage his technique would've killed him long ago. And yet Arras didn't strike him with any blows that would do him great harm or anything that would be considered anything but minor.

"I hope you're paying attention, Clave." Said Arras; before darting back to Ashton's side, twenty feet away. "I can only keep this evasiveness up for around three minutes. We've got one more minute left and then we switch. My only advice is to avoid him hitting you directly and don't hit him, whenever possible. We've been trying for months and we haven't even found a weakness yet. Just more strengths."

"Understood." Acknowledged Ashton as he stabbed his sword into the ground. "But I will do a few tests of my own."

Arras let out a slight chuckle. "So long as you don't go ahead and kill yourself. I really do need to stop in sixty seconds time."

Geralt then revved his mace and smashed chunks of brick, stone and concrete from the floor at the two warriors. From the kicked up dust cloud they both jumped high into the air and saw as a lamppost was torn from the ground and thrown through the air and straight at them. A quick drawn explosive arrow soon stopped it. That's when something occurred to Ashton.

"Shouldn't we try and keep this a ranged fight?" He asked as they approached the ground.

"We could, absolutely." Agreed Arras. "But there are three problems with that. One, he can close gaps very quickly, meaning that we could be caught with a less effective weapon for the job." They landed in time to see another car flung at them with a roar and crash into shop window. "And two, there's less chance of there being collateral damage."

"Ok, got ya. But what's the third reason?" Asked Ashton.

"The three B's. Bullet battles are boring." Answered Arras; revealing more of his character. "Anyway, back to work. Remember, sixty seconds."

Arras then took to buying what time he could and Ashton to contemplate his next action as he counted the seconds down. Being armed with a single mace didn't deter Geralt from swinging his weapon wildly with one hand and swiping at the air with the other in the hope of grabbing the elusive Arras. Arras' speed is what kept him out of Geralt's reach. Ashton would've said that it was his semblance; if he hadn't have seen the green fires from earlier. But if his time away from the castle had taught him anything, it's that there are some people who seem to make their own rules in regard to aura, dust, physics and common sense.

"Time!" Shouted Arras as he leapt backwards towards Ashton.

Geralt reached out and was just about ready to grab a piece of Arras' coat, when another hand grabbed his. Ashton hand a hold of the wrist of one arm for two seconds as Arras retreated and in that time had doubled the weight of his hand bandages. However, this did little to hinder him. He pulled his hand from Ashton and swung his mace at Ashton's head; who ducked to dodge and stepped on Geralt's boot as he made it many times heavier. A foot weighed down, and a hand as well, didn't do much to keep Geralt still, and he had just the tactic in mind. He threw the one mace he had high into the sky and continued to throw kicks and punches, even though he was slightly easier to dodge then before. Ashton delivered slight, passing contacts as he gently guided Geralt's fists and kicks clear of their targets and adding small increases in weight as he did so.

'This guy has got some skills.' Arras thought.

'Yeah, but what's this 'three minutes of work' you managed to swindle for yourself?' Questioned Alex, who was now the internal voice. 'You have enough aura to stay evasive for ten minutes. In three minutes time you're aura will be fully refreshed. Ashton is the only one to take a hit and return an effective counter attack so far.'

'Yeah, but look at him go. This is proving to me that he's worthy of being one of us, and that he's good under pressure. Plus, what's wrong with taking a rest when you can grab one? If we both keep on getting regular rests, and we don't do Geralt any major damage, we should be peachy.'

Geralt appeared to be on the back rope, and yet Ashton felt like he was getting anywhere with him. Ashton was once again in range of one of Geralt's punches, but he also discreetly raised his leading foot as well, as if he was winding up for a massive right cross. Ashton prepared himself, as he had been doing, ready to dodge his punch. However, instead of a swing at Ashton, Geralt used the extra weight of his boot, along with his own strength to stomp on the floor and cause a minor quake which made Ashton stumble. All Geralt needed to do then was to reach out and grab his elusive target. That succeeding, he gripped Ashton's arms firmly and pulled his own head back ready for a head butt.

'Could really do with some help right now; Arras.' Thought Ashton as he glanced around to see his ally; or at least the space that his ally once occupied. 'He's gone?! Now of all times?! Maybe he's getting a vantage point. I can take a head butt anyway. All I have to do is focus my defensive aura in my head and neck. It's not like he's taken any major damage to power him up or anything.'

Ashton realized that a second or so had passed and he was still only being held, with Geralt's head still drawn backwards only threatening to strike.

'I don't get it. What's he waiting for?.. SHIT!' Ashton thought as he looked up.

Geralt was buying time for gravity, the only ally he needed, to return his weapon. Hurtling back down to earth and whistling as it grew closer was his mace. Ashton brought up his legs and used them in an attempt to get away from his captor by pushing off from his chest, to no result. Two seconds later and the mace came crashing down on Geralt's own head, jagged business end first. Small tickles of blood ran down from the cuts and dripped off the back of his head and onto the floor before the mace fell backwards and onto the floor as well. Ashton felt as Geralt's grip grew tighter and his aura became dense.

"No more dodging." Said the deep gruff voice.

Geralt slung his head forward and Ashton closed his eyes as he flinched. A moment passed and Ashton slowly started to open his eyes. Geralt's attack was halted by a web of wire cables that blocked his head.

"How many times are we gonna have to save your ass?" Asked a familiar, female voice from the side lines.

Lexy had attached several wire towing kunai to the two buildings either side of Ashton and Geralt and created a wall of wires between them. The rest of team NKTL were behind Ashton and ready to assist, whilst behind Geralt, a military platoon stood with their rifles primed. Off to one side, Alex ran back into view.

'Sorry Ashton.' He thought to himself. 'If my superiors found out that I let Arras out that'll be me getting it in the neck. None of these soldiers can see my red eyes.'

Geralt was backed into a corner and yet gave a sinister smile.

'Oh crap!' Thought Ashton as Geralt brought his head back for a second time.

Geralt threw his head forward again, with even greater force. This time the cables screeched from the strain and one by one snapped or pulled large chunks of bricks from building they were anchored to. The head butt had enough force to do this and slam Ashton down the street and towards team NKTL. Skidding to a stop, Kyte and Alex both ran to Ashton's side while Lexy put up another wall of wires to delay Geralt from getting to them.

"I'll start first aid immediately!" Informed Kyte.

"I'll assist." Said Alex.

Kyte held out him palms and shone his light over Ashton.

"Massive concussion, cracked frontal bone, eye socket and zygomatic fractures and the humorous of both arms had been broken and the shoulders dislocated!" Said Kyte; giving a rundown of Ashton's injuries.

Alex's palms set ablaze with green flames as he then started to burn away Ashton's injuries. The Atlas team looked shocked at the spectacle.

"Don't worry." Said Alex. "My fires are healing flames."

Kyte watched with intrigue at someone with abilities so close to his own.

"My lights will help heal him by replenishing his aura. If we both focus our semblance at his head injuries he will be most likely ready to fight again in ten minutes." Said Kyte.

"Ok, let's do it." Agreed Alex.

"If I boost you both we can half the time." Suggested Teal as he placed a hand on their shoulders.

Their semblances grew fierce and bright and Geralt watched from the other side of wires. One soldier maintained his distance and yelled demands at Geralt. Telling him to, 'give himself up' and that, 'there's nowhere to run'. Geralt was unmotivated to do any of the soldier's orders and acted as though he couldn't hear him. That was until the soldier was given a megaphone to continue his demands. Reaching his limit of frustration, Geralt let out a small growl before reaching down to pick up a small rock from the earlier rubble. He spent another minute studying the other side of the wire wall. The closest people to him was Nickel and Lexy, although Lexy seemed to be more concerned with Ashton's condition then her position in the fight.

"YOU HAVE TEN MORE SECONDS BEFORE WE TAKE FURTHER ACTION." Shouted the man on the mega phone. "TEN..."

At the first number of his countdown, Geralt quickly turned around and turned his arm to a blur as he threw the rock at the soldier. The rock smashed the megaphone, entered the soldier's mouth and fired out the back of his neck, all before he could say, "nine." Geralt then turned back to look through the wires, as the soldiers were traumatized and enraged by seeing that their comrade was so quickly and effortlessly dispatched. Roars of anger rang out as many of the men open fired on Geralt and every bullet shot was a terrible mistake. The men saw a hailstorm of bullets strike his back and drop off. They may as well have been firing elastic bands at him for all the good they did. The pile of spent ammunition continued to grow until the soldiers either succumbed to a lack of bullet or the lack of courage when they realized that their target was no ordinary man; if you could call him a man at all. This impossible monster then turned to face the quaking little men in their pretend army costumes and toy guns and gave a smirk that drained the last of the warmth from their bodies.

One man was still brave enough to re-aim his weapon and pull the trigger only to hear the empty *click* of his gun. He frantically ejected the spent magazine and grabbed another from his equipment belt. His hands shuck with adrenaline and fear as he attempted to insert the new clip. Finally in, he then pulled back on the cocking mechanism to inject the first new round and re-aimed at his target. It was easier to aim the second time as Geralt was stood a matter of inches in front of him and still wore his smile. He was holding one of his maces in his hand, the one he had struck himself on the head with earlier, but Geralt didn't use it. Instead he reached out and placed his hand on the head of the soldier as if he was a boy. Compared to Geralt's size and strength he may as well have been. And without a single thing being said, not change in posture or twitch in the eye, Geralt twisted his wrist and spun the man's head to face behind him.

Chaos could be heard from the other side of the wires as the team hurried to revive Ashton. The cracks in his face set and healed to ensure his survival and his arms were nearly finished setting. Nickel and Lexy were still on standby and waiting for any potential incoming attack while Alex, Kyte and Teal worked on Ashton. And just as soon as the chaos began, it ended and was replaced by silence.

"What do you think is happening over there?" Asked Lexy.

"I don't know." Answered Nickel squinting to try and see through the wall without getting any closer. "Could you take away a few wires for us to see through?"

"Give me a moment." She answered, raising her hand and one by one dispelling a few wires and throwing knives, turning them into ash and crumbling them away.

Patches of street on the other side slowly became more visible and the team were at the ready to defend against potential attacks. Lexy kept enough cables for some defence and at the same time see through the wall to the puddles of blood and bodies scattered around. Geralt stood at the back of the squadron's corpses and held his bloodied mace in one hand and a lifeless body under the other arm. He could see the flickering of Kyte and Alex's healing semblances and knew that this was the time to strike. He held the lifeless soldier's body in one hand above his head and threw him like pebble. It flew through the air so quickly that when it hit the tort wires it was sliced into pieces and continued towards the team. On guard and ready, Nickel used his shadow strike to hit the dismembered body parts out of the air before they could reach the team.

"He's just an animal! No better than a creature of Grimm!" Shouted Nickel; as he was forced to strike the remains of his former comrades from the air.

His outburst was just a small part of what he was feeling as more bodies were fed through the wires. He continued his defence of the team, well aware of the fact that this was all about stalling for time. Alex told team NKTL about the plan for Razlov to get in contact with the closest Hanta-Kira squad. Lexy had already used a considerable amount of her aura to make and maintain the wire wall, Kyte was burning through his to help Alex heal Ashton and Teal was helping to speed that along. All hopes of defence, for the time being, were on his shoulders. Blood and innards now decorated the street and its wall to wall buildings that lined it. Nickel was so busy, swatting body parts from the air that he couldn't break his concentration to feel the shock and horror that any man would feel. Lexy was the only one who could spare the time to have her mind slip into the dark of what was happening.

In the past, her and her team had been in Hunter raiding parties as part of search and destroy mission. There were times of chaos and bloodshed when they underestimated their enemy, but this was an entirely different situation. Those raiding parties were for hunting Grimm and this is a single man, if he was man at all. She has seen more mercy in a pack of Beowolves then in this, supposed, man. She could only watch as Nickel grew more and more tired and the body ballistics get closer. That is, until one landed just in front of her. She looked down at the still, lifeless corpse as she felt her mind slip. She could see nothing but the body at her feet, and the beeping coming from its combat vest. The next thing she felt was Nickel tackling her away from the body. Not in time, however, to avoid all the damage from the blast. The explosion from a dust grenade launched them from the middle of the street and through a shop window.

Lexy must have been knocked out in the blast, because soon after that, her wires and Kunai evaporated from the air. The Sun was beginning its decent and cast the buildings' shadows to only add to the horrible street's ominous view. Geralt could now see clearly how Alex and two of the other team were busy tending to Ashton and he started his slow walk to meet them. Alex looked over to see the blood-thirst in Geralt's eyes. He knew that keeping Geralt busy was more important than completely healing Ashton. He would survive his wounds, Alex made sure of that, now he needed enough time to wake up. He stopped his fire and drew his swords as he walked over to Geralt. With the team at his back, his eyes changed back to red as he released Arras yet again.

'He's just as monstrous as ever.' Thought Arras to Alex. 'He makes me feel like an innocent little girl in comparison.'

'This is it now, Arras. Either we stall him or die.' Alex said with determination.

'That's not strictly true. We could run and live, which seems the more favourable and more likely to succeed of the options we have.'

'All that gun fire we heard earlier. That was all shot at Geralt. If he didn't get to fight us then he would do to this city what he did to this street. We can't let that happen.' Said Alex with a resolute tone.

'You know whenever I question why Razlov calls you the better half, I just think about one of these pompous, 'for the greater good', speeches you're full of.' He replied sarcastically. 'Let's get this started then!'

Almost vanishing from sight and coming back into focus just in front of Geralt, Arras held the point of one of his swords lunging at Geralt's eye. He turned his head in order to dodge the attack by a mere hair's width, before striking the back of Arras' thrusting arm with an open palm strike. Arras felt the forces try and break his arm, but he turned with the counter strike in order to null the impact and spin around for another attack. Arras spun viciously and resembled a bladed tornado with all slashes aimed at Geralt's eyes, which forced him to raise his mace in defence. The battle raged on and Arras continued to go for Geralt's eyes. They were, of course, the weakest part of his body and a sharp slash across them would at least temporarily blind him. However, all Geralt needed to do to win is land a singular direct hit on Arras' body, or land enough small ones that he slows down enough to finish him off for good.

They continued at full pace for minutes, until Geralt managed to graze Arras' leg with the spinning head of his mace. This caused Arras to flinch and gave Geralt an opening for his boot. The kick shot Arras back and into a nearby lamppost and he changed back to Alex's control, so that he could coat himself in flames to reset the ribs that were broken by the kick. Geralt had that smile on his face again and he started to walk towards the green flame coated Alex.

"I told you that I'd remember that it was you who took away my status." Said Geralt, as he stood over Alex. "My title... My reputation... The fear that took me so long to impose. All that was taken and made null by you. A childish little boy." He raised his mace over his head with both hands. "Time to go back to mummy and daddy."

Before he could land his final blow, a bright light appeared and blinded Geralt to give Alex a chance to roll out of the way. Geralt looked up to see Kyte had come to help Alex. This caused Geralt to growl in frustration and raise his mace to strike at the would-be hero, but then his mace was snatched away by two kunai toeing a cable between them and pinned the mace to the second floor of the building that Geralt was facing. He turned to see Lexy with both her palms raised and Teal at her back to enhance her abilities.

"Staple gun!" Ordered Nickel, who was stood beside them.

Lexy continued to release pairs of kunai and wires, which were made faster by using Nickel's shadow strike to send them flying. The first few were dodged, but a well aimed attack hit Geralt's waist and pinned him to the same building as his mace. Soon after that, his wrists, elbows, ankles, knees and neck were all pinned as well. Next, with Teal at Nickel's back, they shot a volley of fists embedding Geralt into the stone wall to restrict his movements even further. Then as Kyte ran over to help Alex, Teal left Nickel's back and went to assist with that as well. Geralt watched carefully as the light from Kyte's palms were made brighter with Teals help.

'That guy's an enhancer.' Geralt thought to himself. 'I should probably get rid of that fly first.'

Meanwhile, just waking up, Ashton held his head in his hand as his vision cleared. And when it did, the horror of his surroundings became apparent. He didn't wake into his world of adventures and cakes, he woke into a nightmare. He looked around to see Geralt force one arm free from the wall and start throwing chunks of the stone and brick at team NKTL like bullets. The projectiles were too fast to hit from the air with Nickel's shadow strike, even then he didn't have the aura to do so. The team starts to evade the pieces of rubble in their sloppy and exhausted fashion. Teal moved from Kyte, who picked up Alex and ran with him to safety, and Teal went to assist Nickel. If he could boost Nickel's aura, they would stand a better chance. Geralt didn't like that idea. He pulled the wire that was holding his neck down out of the wall, with the kunai on either end, spun the blades around and threw them at Nickel. They landed one in each shoulder, causing him the scream out in pain and taking him out of the fight. Another kunai flew through the air and ran straight through Lexy's thigh.

This gave Teal only one choice left. He started to run towards the still dazed and confused Ashton, whilst continuing to evade Geralt's projectiles. With Teal getting closer to Ashton, Geralt forced the rest of his body free from the wall. Then, punching his own hand holds, he climbed up the building and retrieved his mace.

"Ashton!" Said Teal as he reached him. "Come on. We need to stall this guy."

"W...what happened here?" He asked, obviously still dazed. "You got hit in the head, but we haven't got the time to talk about it now. We have to..." Teal was interrupted by the sudden and inexplicable amount of blood pouring down his side.

Geralt had thrown his mace with such force that in completely removed Teal's right arm. Teal slumped to his knees in front of Ashton, his breathing was heavy and he coughed blood from the lung that was riddled with his own ribs. Ashton snapped from his confusion and grabbed Teal before he could collapse to the floor. Ashton turned him onto his back and started to apply pressure to his wound, but the blood was going to empty out before he could make a difference. In a last ditch effort, Ashton took one of his leather straps and pushed it into Teals mouth.

"Bite it. This will really hurt, but you're not going anywhere!" He yelled.

Ashton pressed his glove onto what was left of Teals arm, and released two dust strips from his glove to cauterize to would. Teal's screams echoed through the street, but bleeding had at least stopped for now.

"Ok. Now stay awake!" Ordered Ashton.

Teal was in bad shape, but he looked back over to the others. The only one able to fight back was Kyte and he is no match for Geralt. He chuckled to himself before raising his hand and placing it on Ashton's shoulder.

"I... I have no... Idea what will happen... To you." Teal struggled to say. "But no matter... what... Please... Save my friends."

In that moment Teal poured every ounce of his remaining aura into Ashton. Ashton felt the power surge into him, but further than anyone should go with aura. Ashton could feel Teal's semblances double, triple and quadruple his own power. Feeling the surge of aura Geralt looked over to see the source. He saw the street floor crack around Ashton and a vale of blue aura coating his body. Teal's hand slipped from Ashton's shoulder to the floor and Ashton stood above him. He turned around to face Geralt with tears streaming down his face, his teeth gritted and his face contorted in anger.

"I swear to this weapon, my family and my pride! I will use this to help EVERYONE!" Ashton vowed.

Ashton's eyes showed the change within his body the entire eye was a vibrant blue, and shifting pools of white swimming through the blue like the two colours of a lava lamp.

'Shit!' Alex thought to Arras. 'Is that an aura spike?'

'It looks that way.' Responded Arras. 'It's his aura plus Teal's. He's like an over inflated balloon like this. If he doesn't get the pressure out he's just gonna burst.'

Ashton jumped high into the air above Geralt and came crashing down on top of him, smashing into him and making a crater of the ground.

'That's one way of letting out the pressure.' Arras joked.

Before the dust could settle, Geralt was thrown from the hole in the ground and he went straight up in the air and slammed into the ground near Starburn and the first mace that he lost. All the dust in the air around Ashton settled and hit the floor as Ashton released a small local wave of his aura. Geralt; seeing that Ashton was on his way, picked up his mace and Ashton's sword in defence and stood ready for Ashton. They both ran at each other and Ashton drew Moonshine as his weapon. Ashton aimed and fired his first shot which Geralt deflected with his mace before swinging Starburn at Ashton's midsection. Ashton flipped over the top of Geralt's head to dodge before firing another shot that hit the floor between Geralt's feet. That shot was a glyph round and weighted Geralt, slowing him down slightly. Upon landing behind Geralt, Ashton turned around, aimed his left hand at him and gestured down. This led to the a glowing blue mark on Geralt's mace, which was left behind by the bullet, started to brightly glow before it forced itself from his hand and disappeared into the ground.

Ashton then lunged at Geralt with the aim of striking the back of his head with the barrel of Moonshine, but Geralt was able to turn and parry the attack with Ashton's great sword despite the glyph. With Ashton staggering after the parry, Geralt forced himself out from the glyph and continued to slash at Ashton, who was using his backward momentum to help dodge the attacks. Now with sure footing, Ashton blocked one of Geralt's slashes with his revolver and managed to fire a round into Geralt's shoulder. Ashton's eyes shone and Geralt let out a roar of pain as the bullet forced its way down and out off his shoulder and impact the floor. During Geralt's flinch, Ashton grabbed a piece of Starburn's handle and twisted it to fire its grapple blade into the floor. A second twist pulled the blade out off Geralt's hand before Ashton kicked him in the chest. As his boot made contact with Geralt's chest, Ashton made Geralt's body incredible light which helped to launch him into the burning remains of the pub that the chaos started in.

Ashton placed his gun back in his holster and pulled Starburn from the ground. He then aimed the grapple at a large chunk of still standing building, which he then pulled down over where Geralt had landed.

'Did he just... Hit him with a building?' Asked Arras.

'Yeah. I hate to say it though, but despite the fact that he was pushed hard, that all was just fuel to Geralt.' Replied Alex.

'Forget about the outcome! That was fucking awesome!' Said Arras.

*AARRRGGHHHH!*

Alex looked back over to Ashton. Crippled in pain and pinned to the floor, Ashton lost control of his boosted power. Alex could see how his body was straining under its own weight. He was being attacked by his own semblance. Ashton could feel his own bones start to crack from the weight of his skin, before given a small moment of complete weightlessness just to be crushed again. This process of being crushed and being weightless continued for what seemed like an eternity, until he also felt a strange warmth. Alex had managed to get himself over to Ashton and started using what remained of his emerald fire to keep his wounds from being fatal. That was all Ashton could remember before he returned to unconsciousness, as his body continued to be crippled by its own weight.

'I can't allow him to die! He will survive this!' Said Alex to reassure his resolve.

However, the one noise he didn't want to hear at that moment rang loud over the sounds of the burning building. The sounds of bricks overturning as an arm reached out from the pile of burning and collapsed pub. Geralt pulled himself out and stood atop the mound. His smile was once again painted across his face. His aura was so powered up by the beating he took that the bleeding from the bullet wound Ashton gave him had actually stopped. He started to let out a small chuckle which increased to a full echoing roar of laughter. Alex looked up at Geralt and then down at Ashton.

"I'm sorry." He said. "I can't even run from him in the condition I'm in now."

'What if you switched to me?' Asked Arras.

'You've used too much aura to escape Geralt. That and I'm not sure if you've noticed; but I'm still trying to heal us. I've only managed to repair the punctures to our lungs so far. So if we switch, my fire will deactivate, we could out run him for a time if we abandoned Ashton, but he would still catch us'

Geralt started to walk down the pile of bricks and towards Alex whiles picking up a piece of rebar with a lump of concrete on the end.

'If you've got an idea of how we can get out of here, I'm all ears.' Alex said to Arras.

'Just hold still. It's gonna be alright.'

'Are you reassuring me? *chuckle* 'That's a first.' Alex joked.

Geralt stood with his new weapon held high and said, "No one to help you this time!"

"Wrong!"

An intense energy beam hit Geralt and threw him down the street once more. Razlov was stood at the source of the beam with his hammer, the head of which had pivoted so that the spiked back was at the end and split into four small rods for channelling dust energy.

'Didn't I say it would be ok?' Gloated Arras.

'You sensed him coming, didn't you?! Why didn't you tell me?!'

'And miss the look on your face? Are you kidding? Plus, if I did, you may have given him away with a slight change in facial expression.'

'You're a bastard sometimes, you know.' Said Alex, both angered and relieved by Arras' decision not to tell.

"Where do these cockroaches keep coming from?!" Geralt roared in frustration after his third failed attempt in an hour.

"From an academy that never quits." Said a new voice.

Geralt turned around to see, not only a member of the Hanta-Kira, but one of the captains who was very familiar with him.

"Heathcliff!" Geralt growled.

The man was in a black combat, military standard uniform with a black mask that had red, rectangular shaped lenses for the wearer to see through. He reached up with one hand to remove his mask and reveal his typically military like features. Short back and sides haircut, chiselled and firm facial features and silvery grey eyes.

"How could you tell it was me, Riverian?" Heathcliff asked in a firm tone.

Geralt let out a small chuckle.

"Only you can make me feel this drained by just being in your presence." He answered.

"Well." Said Heathcliff as two circular rings sprung from their folded position on his back, and he rolled up his sleeves to reveal two forearm mounted devices. "Let's see how drained I can get you before you bleed to death."

Geralt's attention was brought back to the bullet wound in his arm, as a slow trickle of blood started to run down his arm. The job of a Hanta-Kira is to restrain and return rouge Foresight members to Foresight so that they could be punished for their actions; or, in Geralt's case, to kill on sight. Many Hanta-Kira members develop their auras to block and drain out other people's aura so that they're easier to restrain and Heathcliff was one of the best. You could see how Geralt had begun to lose focus from being so close to him. Geralt attempted to jump well over the top of Heathcliff to retrieve one of his maces and Heathcliff took this as a sign to start his attack. From his arm mounts, he fired harpoons toeing cables, which Geralt was just about able to evade with the help of some acrobatics. He landed on the other side of Heathcliff, right next to a mace and picked it up. But before he could turn to face his new adversary, a harpoon grazed one of his legs and the cable it was toeing opened the wound more.

Geralt felt his head grow wearier and so he decided to use the last of his aura to make a quick retreat. He jumped up to the roof of a close, tall building on the street. Heathcliff attempted to thwart his efforts by getting him with a harpoon, mid flight, but Geralt turned in the air and threw his mace which collided with the skewer. Heathcliff raise his other forearm to attempt another shot, but Geralt made it to the top of the building and took off well out of the range of the cable.

"Damn it!" Said the captain in frustration, before aimed he harpoon at the building so that he could get to the top quickly and give chase.

"Heathcliff! He's gone, and we need your help!" Shouted Alex.

Heathcliff kept his harpoon point focused at the building, but turned to look towards the distressed Alex. He saw the young man who was partially covered by Alex's flames, who seemed to be unconscious and yet in the midst of an aura spike. So despite his frustration to not being able to pursue Geralt, Heathcliff quickly made his way to help Ashton. A single hand on his back was all Ashton needed. With that touch, his aura was drained away and so the spikes subsided.

"Alright." Said Heathcliff. "Let's get the survivors to a hospital."


End file.
